Baghdad

Turkey on July 20 "strongly condemned" the "treacherous" terror attack in Baghdad that left at least 30 people dead and 60 injured.

ISIL claimed responsibility early on July 20 for a suicide bombing that ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital ahead of Eid holiday celebrations, killing nearly 30 people, according to medical sources.

Lithuania plans to build a barrier on the border with Belarus and deploy troops to prevent migrants from illegally crossing into its territory, news wires reported. According to PM Ingrida Simonyte, more than 1,000 migrants had been held after crossing the border since 1 June.

The latest attack came after several attempted assaults on the U.S. facilities in Iraq.
The American defense system C-RAM was active during the night, the Iraqi army stated, and added that the rockets did not hit the embassy, but fell near it in the so-called green zone of Baghdad, where the embassies are located.
There were no casualties in the attack.

Iraq's prime minister on June 12 inaugurated a training and research hospital built by a Turkish construction company in a city on the Euphrates River.

Saudi Arabia is "hopeful" after exploratory talks with its nemesis Iran, its foreign minister told AFP, in a rare comment on delicate discussions whose details have been closely guarded.

The official-level meetings aim to restore relations severed five years ago between the Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iraq on May 3 summoned the top Turkish diplomat in Baghdad to protest the Turkish defense minister's weekend visit to a military base in northern Iraq.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it handed the Turkish charge d'affaires a protest note over Hulusi Akar's visit to a Turkish base in northern Iraq.

Turkey will continue anti-terror operations with getting them "intensified," the nation's defense minister said on April 3.

"Until when? Until the last terrorist is neutralized. Thus, we will save our noble nation from the terror scourge that has been going on for many years and we will ensure security," Hulusi Akar said.

The Ezidi community, which escaped from Iraq's Sinjar district and took refuge in Duhok province after ISIL took control of the region, is unable to return to their homes because of oppression by the PKK and the terror group's extensions in the region, Turkey's consul general in Erbil said on April 1. 

Pope Francis has called for an end to violence and extremism, on the first ever papal visit to Iraq.

In a speech after being welcomed by Iraqi President Barham Salih, Pope Francis said he was very pleased to come to Iraq, which he described as the "cradle of civilisation".

The pontiff is making his first international trip since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.