US Proposed Turkish Intervention in Iraqi Mosul Op: Report

During a recent visit to Iraqi and Turkish capitals Baghdad, Ankara, the US Defense Minister, Ash Carter has proposed a secret plan that will allow Ankara to go ahead with its reiterated wish to enter the Mosul liberation operation; however it requires Turkey to evacuate all its armed forces from Iraqi territories as soon as the operation ends.
 
The plan, however, seems to lack any guarantees on its second phase when Ankara is required to leave Iraq, since keeping a military presence seem of utmost importance for Turkey.
 
The Turkish parliament members recently renewed the mission of their armed units, already in Iraq, for another year. The move was rejected furiously by their counterparts in Iraq that painted the deployed units as “occupiers” with the Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi calling for their immediate removal from Iraqi territories.
 
The Ankara, on the other hand, responded defiantly, insisting on keeping a military presence in the Kurdish region. The issue was so important for Ankara that it chose to enter a rhetorical tension with the southern neighbor rather than opting for a serious dialogue over the issue.
 
Now it seems highly improbable that Ankara would agree to evacuate forces even after it has guaranteed a role in the highly desired Mosul liberation operation. The operation that is set to defeat the last stronghold of the ISIS terrorist group has been attractive for many foreign forces that seem to be plotting to influence the future political scene.
 
Trying to keep an independent control over its territory, Iraqi government has rejected all calls to enter foreign forces into the determinant operation. But now the US proposal seems to pave the way for infiltration of Turkish government in a region it won’t give up easily in the future.
 
Although the Iraqi government seems to have rejected the proposal, Ankara keeps insisting on its stance by initiating shelling attacks that were claimed to be a support for the Kurdish Peshmerga present in the Mosul operation.
 
Mosul fell to ISIS terrorists in 2014 and is the last Iraqi stronghold for the group. Iraqi army started a long awaited operation to liberate the city, seven days ago, and only Iraqi forces including the national police, Shiite volunteers, and Kurdish Peshmerga are allowed to join the battle.