Iraq, Turkey exchange diplomatic barbs over Mosul

Diplomatic tensions between Iraq and Turkey escalated today as a spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced that Ankara’s ambassador to Baghdad had been summoned to explain recent statements made by his country.

Ahmed Jamal, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that the Turkish ambassador had been summoned due to “provocative Turkish statements regarding the [upcoming] battle for Mosul,” but did not give further details on what will be discussed with the ambassador.

Potentially an act of diplomatic reciprocation, Turkey also announced that it has summoned Iraq’s ambassador for discussions relating to the Iraqi parliament’s decision yesterday to condemn the Turkish parliament and demand diplomatic measures against Turkey.

The Turkish government released a statement saying that it intended to formally object to Baghdad’s “baseless accusations against Turkey.”

Iraq’s parliament voted yesterday to censure its Turkish counterpart for authorising an extension to Turkey’s military operations in Iraq earlier this week. Iraqi lawmakers also demanded that the government summons Turkey’s ambassador so that he could explain his country’s decision.

Turkish involvement in Mosul

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Defence Ministry claimed that the Pentagon’s spokesman for the US-led coalition against Daesh, Colonel John Dorrian, had said that Turkish forces in northern Iraq are not a part of coalition forces.

According to the statement, Dorrian said that all foreign forces that comprise the coalition are on Iraqi soil with Baghdad’s permission, but this description does not apply to Turkish forces.

Speaking in a televised interview on the Saudi Arabian Rotana channel earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced concerns that Baghdad may try to alter the demographics of Mosul following its recapture from Daesh.

“After Mosul is rescued from Daesh, only Sunni Arabs, Turkmen and Sunni Kurds should remain there,” Erdogan said in relation to the traditional ethno-sectarian make-up of Iraq’s second largest city.

Erdogan and other Turkish officials have frequently insisted that Turkey will play a role in the upcoming offensive to prise Mosul from the grasp of Daesh.

Last Saturday, Erdogan told the Turkish parliament: “We will play a role in the Mosul liberation operation and no one can prevent us from participating.”

The operation to retake Mosul is expected to start imminently, with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi yesterday telling “our honoured people of Mosul to prepare, as the time [for the beginning of the operation] is coming.”