Turkey summoned Tuesday Iraq’s ambassador to Ankara to protest claims that it has been meddling in its neighbor’s affairs by voicing concerns about a domestic political crisis, a diplomatic source said Tuesday.

Turkey summoned Tuesday Iraq's ambassador to Ankara to protest claims that it has been meddling in its neighbor’s affairs by voicing concerns about a domestic political crisis, a diplomatic source said Tuesday.

Turkish Foreign Ministry's undersecretary, Feridun Sinirlioglu said he told the Iraqi envoy “that the accusation of interference was unacceptable and Turkey had a legitimate right to be concerned about events on the other side of its borders.”

AFP further quoted the Turkish official as telling the Iraqi envoy that “Iraq's stability concerns all its neighbors including Turkey and this did not mean intervention.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan angered his counterpart by phoning him last week about a standoff with his Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi who is accused of running a death squad.