Turkey condemns bomb attack on Iraqi Turkmen

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has condemned a Thursday bomb attack on Turkmen in Kirkuk, northern Iraq which killed three people.

In a statement on Friday, the Foreign Ministry expressed "deep sorrow" and condemned the deadly attack targeting Turkmen peacefully protesting the results of the country’s May 12 parliamentary polls.

Turkey called on Iraqi authorities to find the perpetrators of the attack, saying: "We condemn this cowardly attack in Kirkuk, which appears to be organized by some circles fed by restlessness and instability."

The statement also stressed the need to address UN claims of voting irregularities in a way that satisfies the public.

Many Turkmen and Arabs in oil-rich Kirkuk believe that results of the May 12 poll were manipulated -- especially in Erbil and Kirkuk -- and so demanded a recount.

Last week, Iraq’s electoral commission announced that it had annulled all ballots cast at 103 polling stations in the Baghdad, Anbar, Nineveh, Saladin and Erbil provinces.

How much this affected final poll results is unclear.

Final results were announced several days after Iraqis cast ballots in the country's first parliamentary election since 2014.

Preliminary results had been announced days earlier, but widespread fraud allegations reportedly delayed a final vote count.