Iraq slams Turkish air strikes

Iraq's parliament on Monday strongly condemned Turkish air strikes on its northern territory, branding them a "cruel attack" on the country's sovereignty that resulted in civilian casualties.
"We strongly condemn this cruel attack on Iraqi sovereignty and on the principle of friendly neighbourhood," the parliament said in a statement, adding that the bombings resulted in "several innocent civilian casualties".
On Sunday, Turkish warplanes bombed several villages in northern Iraq targeting rear-bases of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Seven people were killed, including two civilians, the PKK said. "In the attacks, five guerrillas and two civilians became martyrs. Three other guerillas sustained light injuries," according to the PKK internet site. Locals said schools and bridges were also destroyed in the foothills of the Qandil mountains along the border.
"We all were asleep when the warplanes struck our village," said Hassan Ibrahim, 75, a farmer from the village of Qalatuqa along the Iraq-Turkey border.
"When the attack came I got out of the house. We were all suffocating because of the dust." He said Turkish warplanes had been overflying the region for the past month.
"Earlier it was Saddam who destroyed our homes, now it is the Turks," an angry Ibrahim told AFP as he prepared to leave his home. Witnesses said the bombings had razed dozens of buildings in Qalatuqa, including a soon-to-be-opened school building. Asaka Abdullah, 40, said she woke up shocked with the noise of the bombings.
"I was asleep when the sound of the explosion woke me up. When I stepped out of my house I saw people fleeing barefoot," she said. "We really have no choice but to flee to the mountains to escape the bombs." In Baghdad, the parliament statement demanded that Ankara exercise military restraint and adopt the route of dialogue to solve the PKK problem.
"We call upon our neighbour Turkey to adopt the route of dialogue and wisdom to solve internal issues," it said. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had led the Iraqi condemnation prior to the parliament statement.
"We understand Turkish concerns over the presence of PKK, but yesterday there was some collateral damages to civilians. ... such action must be co-ordinated with the Iraqi government," said Zebari, who did not give casualty figures. The BBC, meanwhile, said on its news website that the US denied reports that Washington had approved the Turkish strikes.