Iraq the statement added “retains the right to use all legal means to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity; we [the presidency] support the Iraqi government in the steps it has taken in this regard”. Analysts compare Iraq’s situation to that of Syria where external parties are conducting an air war against Daesh without the permission of the government in Damascus. “If the Iraqi government refused to response, this will have a negative impact on the Iraqi people”.
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The transfer came after Iraq’s strong reaction to the deployment of the Turkish troops to Bashiqa, which Ankara says was aimed at training forces fighting Islamic State (IS) militants. Erdogan has not relinquished his dream of becoming a 21st century Ottoman-style “sultan” ruling over the modern Turkish homeland and exerting authority over neighbouring and, even, more distant regions. Tensions between Iraq and Turkey are soaring since last week’s cross-border deployment by Turkish troops into Nineveh. Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani also traveled to Ankara for talks.
But it considers the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) – whose Popular Protection Units (YPG) militia is a key ally of the US-led coalition against IS – as an enemy because it is an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Sunday stressed his country’s keenness to maintain good relations with Turkey and to resolve the current diplomatic row between Baghdad and Ankara over the deployment of Turkish troops to northern Iraq.
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Anti-Turkish protests have been held in several Iraqi cities. As Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has struggled to please both sides, he is increasingly seen as weak and indecisive, further undermining efforts to defeat the extremists.
