Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, has warned the United Nations if they do not take measures regarding the presence of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in the Makhmur refugee camp in northern Iraq, Turkey will intervene, the Diken new website reported on Thursday.
“The UN has no direct influence on the Makhmur camp, even it is considered to be under UN monitoring. There are almost no personnel from the UN inside the camp. Terrorists take advantage of that,” Çavuşoğlu said during a TV interview.
“We are discussing this with the UN. They shouldn’t let PKK militants stay there. If they don’t do anything, we will,” he added.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also hinted on June 8 that Turkey could attack Makhmur.
“I’m saying this for the first time. Makhmur. It is too important. The UN may say this or that… The UN should resolve the issue. Makhmur is an incubation zone. Terrorists have been raised there,” he said during a TV broadcast.
The camp has been the subject of dispute between the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous northern part of the country since the camp’s establishment in 1998.
Turkey over the years has repeatedly asked the UN to close the camp over allegations that it supports PKK militants.