Turkey and Iraq have reached an agreement in principle that could eventually allow a Turkish role in the campaign to retake Mosul from the so-called Islamic State, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said today after talks with President Tayyip Erdogan.
Mr Erdogan has previously voiced frustration that NATO member Turkey has not been more involved in the US-backed assault on the Iraqi city, once part of the Ottoman empire and still seen by Turkey as firmly within its sphere of influence.
Iraq, meanwhile, views Turkish military moves on its territory with apprehension, and any agreement on Mosul would defuse a major source of tension between the neighbours.
Mr Carter made clear that details on Turkey's potential role in the unfolding Mosul campaign still needed to be hammered out and a senior US defence official noted non-military assistance was also a possibility.
"That will have to obviously be something that the Iraqi government will need to agree to and I think there's agreement there in principle," Mr Carter said.
Meanwhile, IS militants have taken 550 families from villages around Mosul and are holding them close to IS locations in the Iraqi city, probably as human shields, a UN spokesperson has said.
[rte.ie]
21/10/16
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Mr Erdogan has previously voiced frustration that NATO member Turkey has not been more involved in the US-backed assault on the Iraqi city, once part of the Ottoman empire and still seen by Turkey as firmly within its sphere of influence.
Iraq, meanwhile, views Turkish military moves on its territory with apprehension, and any agreement on Mosul would defuse a major source of tension between the neighbours.
Mr Carter made clear that details on Turkey's potential role in the unfolding Mosul campaign still needed to be hammered out and a senior US defence official noted non-military assistance was also a possibility.
"That will have to obviously be something that the Iraqi government will need to agree to and I think there's agreement there in principle," Mr Carter said.
Meanwhile, IS militants have taken 550 families from villages around Mosul and are holding them close to IS locations in the Iraqi city, probably as human shields, a UN spokesperson has said.
[rte.ie]
21/10/16
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