Erbil attack
In Erbil, Iraq, two terrorists carried out an armed attack killing several diplomats including an employee of the Turkish consulate general.
Police arrested 27-year-old Mazlum Dağ in connection with the incident.
The search for others involved in organizing the attack is ongoing, police said.
Two Iraqi citizens were also killed in the July 27 incident, when gunmen opened fire on a restaurant in the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.
Representatives of the Kurdish Regional Administration of Iraq (KRAI) stated that the killing had been a coordinated terrorist attack.
Cyprus
Turkey sent ships to the Eastern Mediterranean region to continue exploration, the country’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources reported. They added that the exploration will continue despite European sanctions.
On Monday, the EU Council responded to Turkey’s continued exploration and drilled in the waters of Cyprus, imposes the first round of sanctions over the issue. The EU also suspended high-level dialogue and canceled meetings of the Turkish-EU Association Council and reduced financial assistance in 2020. The EU also recommended the European Investment Bank reconsider loans to Turkey and continue working on options to ensure sanctions.
Iran-US tension
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied US claims to have downed an Iranian drone, suggesting that perhaps they had shot down their own by mistake.
US President Donald Trump said that the US Navy ship shot down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the day.
S-400
Ankara is still interested in developing cooperation with the United States, but is ready to take retaliatory measures if sanctions are imposed by Washington over the purchase of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems, according to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. If Washington maintains a hostile attitude towards Turkey, Ankara will take retaliatory measures, he assured.
The first deliveries of the S-400s to Turkey began on July 12.
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