Kurdistan's PM: Ankara-PKK fighting delays providing services to Zakho district

Shafaq News/ The Kurdish Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, hopes that other countries will respect the sovereignty of Iraq and Kurdistan.

"The conflict between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) affected providing services and launching economic projects in Zakho region," Barzani said in a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of six projects in Zakho.

"We hope that the sovereignty of our country will be respected, that these confrontations will end so that we will provide the services that Zakho deserves," he added.

The Turkish military has regularly attacked PKK positions in the mountains of northern Iraq, where several thousand militants are believed to be holed up.

The most deadly bombardment occurred last July when four shells fell on the Barakh resort in Zakho, killing nine tourists, including two children, and wounding 29 others.

The Iraqi and Kurdish authorities, many countries, the Arab League, and UNAMI condemned the attack, considering it "a violation against Iraqi territory."

Turkey denied any involvement in the attack.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that the PKK attacked the resort to damage Turkey-Iraq ties.