The Kurdistan Region’s Deputy Prime Minister, Qubad Talabani, issued a letter following the Turkey bombardment of the Parakh village in Duhok’s province in which several tourists and civilians died as a result of the air strike.

Below is the context of the letter of Qubad Talabani:

Iraqi citizens from Baghdad and the south escaped the summer heatwave to enjoy the coolness of the waterfalls and breeze of Kurdistan's resorts, but their lifeless bodies were returned in caskets to their families.

The crime of Parakh resort has shaken the conscience of all Iraqi citizens – from Duhok, Erbil, and Sulaimani, to Baghdad, Najaf and Basra. Alongside their families, we mourn for the nine martyrs.

The crime has a deep meaning for us in the Kurdistan Region. Kurdish citizens were shocked twice. Once, like all Iraqis, we were saddened by the tragic incident and the martyrdom of nine innocent civilians. And again, as Kurds, we felt for the martyrs, ourselves also too often victim with no one to hear our cry.

Over 100 civilians have been killed in the past few years due to continuous bombardment, but the federal government failed to take a serious stance.

We are appreciative that, this time, the federal government, parliament, Iraqi parties in general and the international community has taken an appropriate position, but we remind them that we have repeatedly requested necessary measures be taken to protect Iraq's sovereignty. Unfortunately, tentative condemnation was issued just a few times.

If a serious stance had been taken, we might not have seen the tragedy of the past few days. A handsome young man would not have been martyred on his honeymoon. We would not have sent the lifeless body of a child to Baghdad.

No one's blood is more precious than anyone else's. If the federal government had taken a stand against the martyrdom of the child Solin Shamal Hussein and six other members of her family in Mount Kurtak , or if the federal government had taken a stand against the martyrdom of eight civilians in Zargali village, it is difficult to imagine that the crime of Parakh could have occurred.

According to Iraq's constitution, it is the duty of the federal government to protect the sovereignty of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.

I hope that this tragic incident will bring unity to Iraqi political parties, forcing them closer together to value our citizens above all else. Only a government that can protect the lives of its citizens and the sovereignty of its territory can be internally consistent and trustworthy.

Peace be upon the souls of the martyrs of Parakh, and upon all the martyrs of the previous years.

(PUKNOW)