Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his country is prepared to “take measures” in its eastern neighbor because it was not satisfied by promises from Washington and Baghdad that Kurdish militants and Shi’ite militias will not take part in the current fighting to retake the Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul. “Turkey can never remain idle against terror threats, potential refugee waves that may come from Iraq as well as sectarian conflicts and massacres that may be carried out in the region. Therefore, we will not hesitate to take action if necessary. We have clearly said that and we don’t need anyone’s advice on this matter,” Yildirim said.
Turkey is keen to take part in an offensive to take back Mosul from the Islamic State. It fears the use of Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias, which the Iraqi army has relied on in the past, will stoke sectarian unrest. Nevertheless, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declined an offer from Turkey to take part in the battle for Mosul, stressing during a meeting with US Defense Secretary Ash Carter in Baghdad, that the Iraqis themselves will handle the capture of the last Islamic State stronghold in their country. “We are very keen to have good neighbourly relations with Turkey. We are also keen not to have confrontation with Turkey as it is a neighbouring country. The Mosul battle is an Iraqi one and Iraqis themselves wage it and planned for (it). I know that the Turks want to participate, we tell them thank you, this is something the Iraqis will handle. We would like to tell them that this battle will be settled by Iraqis. The Iraqi troops will liberate Mosul and other areas,” al-Abadi said.
Following a meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter landed in Erbil, in northern Iraq, where he was greeted at the airport by the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government Nechirvan Barazani, before going to meet the President of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Massoud Barazani. The visit by the American top defense official is meant to show Washington’s support for the Iraqi and Kurdish forces in their battle against the Islamic State, as well as assess progress in the campaign to recapture Mosul. The US-led coalition against the Islamic State will provide the forces on the ground air support and roughly 5,000 US military personnel are in Iraq to assist the local forces.