ANKARA: Turkey and Iran summoned each other's ambassadors on Sunday, Turkish and Iranian state media reported, escalating a rumbling row over Turkey's presence in Iraq.
Iran and Turkey are rivals in several parts of the Middle East and Central Asia but both have carried out operations against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.
Earlier this month, Turkey accused Kurdish militants of killing 12 Turks and an Iraqi who were being held hostage in northern Iraq, The incident prompted Iranian envoy to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi to warn that Turkish forces should not "pose a threat or violate Iraqi soil".
"We do not accept at all, be it Turkey or any other country, to intervene in Iraq militarily or advance or have a military presence in Iraq," Masjedi was quoted as saying in an interview broadcast on Saturday.
Turkey's Baghdad envoy Fatih Yildiz quickly hit back, writing on Twitter that Iran's ambassador was "the last person to lecture Turkey" about respecting Iraq's borders.
Turkish foreign ministry officials summoned Iranian ambassador Mohammad Farazmand and told him Turkey expected Iran to be on its side in the "fight against terrorism", Turkey's state news agency Anadolu said.
Ministry officials also told the ambassador Turkey "strongly rejected" the envoy's comments, insisting that Ankara always informed relevant parties including Baghdad of its plans to target militants.
Turkey's envoy to Tehran was also summoned on Sunday by the Iranian foreign ministry over comments made by Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Kurdish militants' presence in Iran, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.
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