Iraqi lawmaker demands expulsion of Turkish ambassador: Report

An Iraqi lawmaker has demanded the expulsion of Turkey’s ambassador to Baghdad in protest against recent remarks by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a report says.

“Erdogan’s statements that target Iraq and the Iraqis are not the first but they are sectarian ones where he wants to set himself as a policeman in the region…” Iraqi News quoted Yasin Majid as saying during a Tuesday press conference at the parliament building.

The Iraqi lawmaker, who is a member of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition, further said that the Turkish premier “talks about the Sunni people in Iraq as if they do not have any one to talk on behalf of them.”

Majid urged the Iraqi government to dismiss the Turkish ambassador to Iraq and called on political blocs in Iraq to condemn Erdogan’s statements.

Majid also held Erdogan accountable for the “violence in Syria because of his interference,” the report said.

Turkey imports oil from Iraq’s Kurdistan region without the agreement of the central government in Baghdad.

The Iraqi government has repeatedly stated that all oil contracts in the country, including in the Kurdish region, must go through the central government.

Ankara-Baghdad relations turned sour last year after Turkey expressed support for fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and gave him refuge. Hashemi has been sentenced to death over involvement in terrorist activities in Iraq.