Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, declared that Turkish troops in Iraq will stay in Bashiqa, “whatever the Iraqi government in Baghdad says”. Yıldırım claimed Iraqi request for Turkish withdrawal is “absurd” as there are already troops from 63 countries in Iraq “to fight against terror”.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made similar comments before and claimed that Iraqi parliament decision on Turkish troops does not represent “all of the Iraqi people”.
Iraq-Turkey row started when Turkey renewed a law that allows Turkish military presence in Iraq. Iraqi parliament called on the government to evaluate its relations with Turkey and complaint to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) against “Turkish occupation”.
Iraq and Turkey summoned each other’s ambassador after rising tension.
KRG SUPPORTS TURKISH MILITARY PRESENCE
Turkey provides training and support for Peshmerga forces in Iraq since 2014 but since last December Turkey increased its military presence in Iraq, Iraqi government declared this move as illegal as it is “without the request or authorization from the Iraqi federal authorities.”
Turkey justifies its military presence by using Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Islamic State (IS) threats as an excuse, while the then Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi called deployments to the Bashiqa camp at last December as “too big” if the objective is to train anti-IS elements.
As Turkey have good relations with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and KRG leader Masoud Barzani, Turkey has the support of regional government. Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Spokesman Sefin Dizayee, backs Turkish claims by saying that the Bashiqa and Duberdan training camps were set up over the approval of the Federal government of Iraq and the Defense Ministry.
Atheel al-Nujaifi, former governor of Ninevah province, which includes Mosul also supports Turkish presence and he called for establishment of the Bashiqa base after IS took control of Mosul.
Nujaifi formed a group which mainly consists of Sunni Arabs called as “al-Hasdh al-Watani”. Turkey trains al-Hashd al-Watani members in Bashiqa.
‘ONLY SUNNI ARABS, TURKMEN AND SUNNI KURDS SHOULD REMAIN IN MOSUL’
Fate of Mosul is also central to the discussions between Turkey and Iraq. President Tayyip Erdoğan, indicated his intentions by saying “after Mosul will be rescued from Daish (IS), only Sunni Arabs, Turkmen and Sunni Kurds should remain there.” Mostly Shi’ite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), denounced Erdoğan’s statement. PMU declared Erdoğan’s remarks as “sectarian, racist and discriminatory.” PMU declared that Mosul is “multi-faith city with people who follow many religions from Yezidism to Christianity through to Islam and many faiths in between” and “nobody has the right- especially not leaders of foreign countries to impose a discriminatory policy on any part of Iraq and decide who can and cannot return their homes.”
While some media reports have claimed the U.S. “does not want a Turkish presence in Iraq”, quoting Col. John Dorrian as saying Turkey's presence at the Bashiqa base near Mosul, "is illegal." Pentagon denied this claims by saying Anadolu Agency that those reports are “blatantly and completely false.” U.S. Defense Department Spokesman Matthew Allen, stated that U.S. continues “to believe that this is a diplomatic matter for the Governments of Iraq and Turkey to resolve and we support continued dialogue that leads to a resolution of this matter.”
