BAGHDAD, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Thursday confirmed that the killing of a Turkish diplomat in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan will not affect the bilateral relations, and the security forces are investigating the incident.

Abdul Mahdi's comments came during a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as Abdul Mahdi expressed his deep sorrow and condolences to the Turkish people and the family of the Turkish diplomat for the attack on the consulate staff in the city of Erbil, a statement by Abdul Mahdi's office said.

"This crime cannot affect the brotherly and deep relations between the two countries and the two neighboring peoples, and the security services continue their investigations and determined to reach the criminals and bring them to justice to receive their fair punishment," Abdul Mahdi said.

For his part, Erdogan praised the Iraqi government's stance and its follow-up to the investigations in order to "uncover the details of the terrorist attack and to hold the perpetrators accountable," the statement said.

The Turkish president asserted that "terrorism will not succeed in achieving its goals and the two countries continue to cooperate against terrorism," it added.

On Wednesday afternoon, a Turkish consulate employee and a civilian were killed while another person was wounded when gunmen opened fire at a restaurant in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, according to a statement by the Kurdish security service, known as Asayish. Enditem

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