Turkey slams ex-Iraqi Kurdish leader Barzani over his visit with heavily armed guards

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ANKARA, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Turkey demanded an explanation from Iraqi Kurdish officials after former leader Masoud Barzani arrived in a mainly Kurdish Turkish border region last weekend surrounded by heavily armed and uniformed guards. 

Barzani, who was president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government from 2005-17 and remains Iraqi Kurdistan’s most powerful figure, visited the Cizre district in southeast Turkey’s Sirnak province for a symposium on a Kurdish poet. It was also attended by Turkish officials, including a deputy interior minister.

The dispute, which could damage efforts to improve Turkish-KRG relations, centred on video of Barzani’s security detail that Ankara said was insulting and undermined the Turkish state’s ability to protect foreign dignitaries on its soil.

Devlet Bahceli, leader of the ultra-nationalist MHP which is allied with President Tayyip Erdogan, accused Barzani of turning his visit into a “show”, adding: “It is a total disgrace for soldiers with foreign uniforms to be roaming around our nation’s soil with long-range rifles.”

In response, Barzani’s office said the remarks were “the product of a chauvinist mentality”. It said all security measures taken during Barzani’s visit were in accordance with protocols signed by Turkish and Iraqi officials.

“We thought God had guided Devlet Bahceli and given up racism and chauvinism. But it seems he’s still the same old Grey Wolf, only now he’s dressed in sheep’s clothing,” Barzani’s office added in a statement.

It was referring to the MHP’s grey-wolf party emblem and Bahceli’s recent role in a peace process with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state. 

Ankara hopes PKK disarmament will stabilise the wider region including KRG territory, where PKK militants are based.

Turkey’s interior ministry said it had launched an investigation over “armed guard images” during Barzani’s visit and the foreign ministry said the statement by his office was “unacceptable”, provocative and disrespectful. 

Ankara has demanded an explanation and steps against those involved, the foreign ministry added.

President Tayyip Erdogan said the comments by Barzani’s office were “impertinent” and unacceptable and he hoped it would rectify this “grave mistake”. 

(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; editing by Mark Heinrich)