Iraq provided intel on ISIL members entering Turkey: Envoy

Iraq has provided information to Turkey regarding Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) members that crossed into Turkey or who have been trying to do so, Iraq's ambassador to Ankara has said.

"The available information suggests that a significant number of them have already crossed the border to Turkey. Others are trying to do so. Many of them are from Tel Afar and Mosul or from other towns around. We have provided this information to Turkey," Ambassador Hashim al-Allawi told the Hürriyet Daily News. 

"It's important that the two sides cooperate and share information when it comes to separating genuine citizens that have been forced to leave their hometowns and from Daesh [members] that left towns and villages because of military operations. They could pose a threat to the national security of Turkey, as well as the national security of Iraq," the ambassador stated. 

It is a serious issue since "we are taking about thousands of DEASH" members, Al-Allawi said, using an Arabic abbreviation for ISIL.

On the sidelines of a high-level cooperation council meeting on Jan. 7, the heads of intelligence chiefs "have discussed these issues in detail and there is an agreement to cooperate," he said. 

The issue was also discussed when a Turkish delegation went to Arbil, as part of Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım's visit to Iraq earlier in the month, he said.

"I was with them. There was a joint meeting between the Turkish delegation and the Iraqi Kurdistan delegation. One of the key issues that two sides discussed was security cooperation," said al-Allawi.

Approached by the Daily News, a Turkish official said that during the meetings in Baghdad, two sides agreed to develop bilateral relations, enhance cooperation...