Turkish Foreign Ministry issues press release regarding attack in Kirkuk

The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned a suicide attack targeting a city police headquarters in Iraq's Kirkuk on Sunday. "We are saddened to learn that dozens of people lost their lives and many were injured in an attack perpetrated today (3 February) aiming the Kirkuk Police Department. We strongly condemn this terrorist attack targeting the police force responsible for providing peace and security in Kirkuk where groups from various origin and belief have peacefully coexisted throughout history. We wish God's mercy and grace upon those who lost their lives and convey our condolences to their bereaved families, and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded," the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement it released on Sunday, adding, "The recent intensification of terrorist attacks in the cities of our neighboring Iraq that have a pluralistic ethnic and sectarian demographic structure such as Kirkuk and Tuzkhurmatu, reveals that the perpetrators of these attacks intend to instigate fraternal strife in Iraq. It is our firm belief that the people and leaders of Iraq will not let themselves be used in such dark tactics. We expect that those who perpetrated these cowardly acts will be apprehended and brought to justice as soon as possible."