No: 177, 30 May 2014

We have learned with deep regret that yesterday (29 May) five Turkmen farmers have been killed and several Iraqi security officers were killed or injured due to the detonation of explosives planted on their corpses in the Iraqi province of Mosul. Another four Turkmen civilians had lost their lives and six had been wounded on the previous day (28 May) as a result of several bomb attacks targeting the residences of local Turkmens in the town of Tuz Khormato of Saladin Province. We wish God's mercy upon those who lost their lives in these heinous attacks, wish patience and fortitude to their families and hope for a speedy recovery to the injured.

Turkey strongly condemns all kinds of terrorism regardless of its target or origin. The recently intensified terrorist acts targeting our Turkmen brethren living in Kirkuk, Mosul and Saladin provinces, are aimed at driving Iraq into chaos and confusion by causing ethnic and sectarian divisions. We call on the Iraqi Government to be more sensitive for providing the security of Turkmens, who have always been loyal citizens of Iraq, along with all our Iraqi brothers and sisters, so as to prevent the aforementioned terrorist acts from achieving their aim.