Iraq–Turkey relations

Turkey is ready to launch a ground operation in Iraq if it feels threatened by developments there, Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu said Oct. 25, at a time when a U.S.-backed offensive to drive the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the city of Mosul is on the agenda.

"No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come," said Victor Hugo famously. True, nothing is as powerful as something whose time has come. The same applies to Turkey's "Mosul question."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan definitely wants Turkey to be part of the Mosul operation and has the support of nationalists and Islamists alike. For the former, this is a matter of national honor because they believe Mosul belongs to Turkey by birthright.

In a statement, the ministry said last December's advice applied to all of Iraq except the provinces of Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, which are controlled by the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). 

The Middle East is passing through historic times. Nearly the entire world has united to degrade and ultimately defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the world's most dangerous jihadist terrorist organization, in Iraq and Syria, as the long-awaited Mosul operation began on Oct. 17. 

Turkey has sent a delegation to Baghdad for talks in an effort to convince Iraq to reconsider its objection to the presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, as Turkey's president vowed that Ankara will not be excluded from an operation launched to retake Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hit back at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 11 following the latter's harsh criticism, needling the Turkish leader for resorting to FaceTime during the failed July 15 coup attempt.  

Baghdad's recent remarks on Turkish soldiers stationed in Iraq are "dangerous and provocative," Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Oct. 7, responding to claims that his Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi allegedly said "Turkish soldiers should not think they are having picnic."

Turkey's presence in Bashiqa in northern Iraq will not pose a problem if Iraq eliminates its domestic political concerns, Turkey's foreign minister has said.

Turkish troops will remain in Iraq to continue the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and to make sure that no change to the region's "demographic structure" is imposed, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has vowed.