Turkey seeking to hinder greater autonomy of Kurds in Iraq: Analyst

Iraqis stand in front of a banner bearing a portrait of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a demonstration to demand the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from Iraq, on October 8, 2016 outside the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad. (Photo by AFP)

Turkish military presence on Iraqi soil has escalated tensions between Baghdad and Ankara. Iraq has been calling for the withdrawal of Turkish forces from its borders, but Ankara insists that its military presence is needed to bolster the fight against terrorist groups. Still analysts say that the argument runs counter to previous reports of Turkey having ignored the transfer of terrorists and weapons from its territory into Syria and Iraq.

Speaking to Press TV about the issue, a political expert with the Executive Intelligence Review, William Jones, said that Ankara's troop deployment to Iraq is indeed a mechanism to hinder Kurds from gaining greater autonomy near Turkey's borders.

Jones told the 'Top 5' program that Turkey’s military presence in Iraq will complicate the situation on the ground, because the Turks are pursuing a much different agenda which is not simply to help Iraq maintain its integrity and sovereignty as stated; rather, it is an agenda against Kurdish autonomy in the area.

He believes that Kurdish fighters have been playing a major role in the ongoing fight against Daesh, but Turkey is against that.

Turkish officials feel that “the gains made by the Kurds in Iraq, especially the Peshmerga which is a military force, will have an effect on the Kurdish minority within Turkey. So, they are eager to keep the Kurds in a box,” he noted.

According to the analyst, the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq raises questions about "what happens after ISIL (Daesh) is defeated. Will they just withdraw or will there be another political and perhaps military conflict between the Turks and the Kurds?”

He further said that Iraqi authorities have realized that Turkey's involvement in the Mosul offensive will give rise to questions as to who will be in control once Daesh is driven out.

The Iraqi military allied with volunteers forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga kicked off a large military offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul from Daesh terrorist group over the past week. The strategic city fell to Daesh in 2014, when the foreign-backed terrorists ravaged the Arab nation, choosing Mosul as their so-called headquarters in Iraq.


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