(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Iraq could not deal alone with driving ISIS from the city of Mosul and that the presence of Turkish forces in a nearby military camp was an insurance against attacks on Turkey.
Turkey has been locked in a row with Iraq's central government about the presence of Turkish troops at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq, and over who should take part in the planned U.S.-backed assault on Mosul.
"We won't let Mosul be given to ISIS or any other terrorist organization. They say Iraq's central government needs to approve this but the Iraqi central government should first deal with their own problems," Erdogan said.
"Why did you let ISIS enter Iraq, why did you let ISIS enter Mosul? They were almost going to come to Baghdad, where are you, the central government of Iraq?" he said in a speech at a ceremony in the Black Sea town of Rize, broadcast live on TV.
"Nobody should talk about our Bashiqa base. We will stay there. Bashiqa is our insurance against any kind of terrorist activities in Turkey," Erdogan said.
The United States has said any foreign forces in Iraq should have the approval of the Baghdad government.
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15 October 2016 - 16:44
News ID: 785691
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Iraq could not deal alone with driving ISIS from the city of Mosul and that the presence of Turkish forces in a nearby military camp was an insurance against attacks on Turkey.
