Turkey calls for common sense in Iraq: Spokesman

ANKARA

Turkey called on all parties to act with common sense and avoid steps that will fuel tension, presidential spokesman said on Friday amid the fresh U.S.-Iran row.

Ibrahim Kalin’s remarks came in a statement following the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a senior commander of Iraq's Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization Units, in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq.

Kalin argued that recent mistakes, sectarian attitudes and foreign interventions in the region were threatening the global peace and stability.

He said Turkey was particularly concerned that its neighbor, Iraq, would become a zone of tension, instability and power struggles.

The U.S. airstrike killing Soleimani would trigger new tensions and conflicts in the region, he warned.

“Turkey once again calls on all parties to act with common sense and avoid steps that will further escalate tension,” Kalin stressed.

He added that Turkey will continue to make full use of diplomacy to guarantee regional and global peace.

The U.S. said it killed Soleimani because he “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region."

The U.S. strike came amid heightened tensions after thousands of Iran-backed protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday.

Separately, Omer Celik, the spokesman for ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, also said that the U.S. killing of Soleimani will trigger a more dangerous instability in the region.

"The actions to fuel instability in Iraq are to the disadvantage of whole region," Celik said on Twitter, underlining that the security and stability of Iraq “is of crucial importance both for Turkey and the region.”

“The foreign interventions, assassinations, factional conflicts and sectarian fights aiming to turn Iraq into a satellite state expose our region and Iraq to a greater instability,” Celik said.

* Writing by Sibel Morrow