Erdogan condemns Baghdad bomb attacks

ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday “strongly” condemned bomb attacks in Iraq.

“In the name of country and our nationals, I strongly condemn the bomb attacks that happened in our friend and brother Iraq’s capital Baghdad,” he said in a statement.

A car bomb hit Al-Karada, a busy shopping district in central Baghdad, in the early hours of Sunday, killing more than 150, while another attack killed five at a market in Al-Shaab neighborhood.

The Al-Karada attack was claimed by Daesh.

Erdogan said Turkey would always side with the Iraqi people and was ready to provide assistance.

He added: “We view each of the Iraqi people as our brother, whatever their origins and beliefs are... The country which will best understand the pain and ordeal caused by the bomb attacks in Iraq is Turkey.”

On Tuesday, terrorists killed 45 people at Istanbul’s main airport in an attack blamed on Daesh. “This organization is an organization that has waged a war on Islam and Muslims using the name of Islam and epithet of Muslims,” Erdogan said.

The president called for a strong united front against terrorism. “Support of terror organizations cannot be explained on any grounds,” he said, adding his condolences to the relatives of those killed in the Iraq attacks, Iraqi President Fuad Masum and Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi.