US recognizes Turkey's right to self-defense in air-strikes over Iraq

The US has expressed solidarity with Turkey in its fight against terror, saying that it recognizes that Ankara is exercising its right to self-defense with recent air strikes against bases of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. “I don’t think I have anything new on this from what we said last week, which was that we understand that these air strikes were conducted, and we recognize Turkey’s right of self-defense,” US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said on Monday during a daily press briefing, when she was reminded of statements by Iraqi officials who have expressed their uneasiness with the recent Turkish bombings on their soil. “We urge Turkey and Iraq to maintain close contact on these issues and to cooperate,” Nuland said.