Turkey-Iraq tension in rise on the eve of key Mosul operation

Turkey and Iraq summoned their respective ambassadors on Oct. 5 amid bitter verbal exchanges regarding Turkish troops in the Bashiqa region of Mosul, as tension rises between two neighboring countries ahead of a planned operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). 

Ankara believes an offensive by Shia militias will backlash in Sunni-populated Mosul and argues that Sunni fighters, trained by Turkish troops in the Bashiqa military camp, should be a key part of the Mosul offensive.

The Foreign Ministry summoned Iraqi Ambassador to Ankara Husham al-Alawi on Oct. 5 over the Iraqi parliament's demand for Turkish troops to leave the Bashiqa region of Iraq, diplomatic sources told the Hürriyet Daily News.

On the same day, Iraq's Foreign Ministry summoned Turkey's envoy in Baghdad to protest what it said were "provocative" comments made in Ankara about keeping Turkish troops in northern Iraq.

However, Turkish Ambassador Faruk Kaymakçı was in Ankara on Oct. 5. 

On Oct. 4, Iraq's parliament asked the government to send a diplomatic note to Turkey's ambassador to Baghdad, to describe Turkish troops in the country as "hostile occupying forces," and to reconsider trade and economic ties with Turkey. It also rejected Turkish lawmakers' recent decision to extend the mandate on authorization of the government for cross-border military operations into Iraq.       

Turkey is ready to cooperate with the Iraqi government in every way to defeat terrorist organizations from the neighboring country, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said on Oct. 5.

"Iraq belongs to Iraqis, Syria belongs to Syrians," Kurtulmuş told reporters in Istanbul, while adding that it was impossible for Ankara to allow any...