Turkish bases in Iraq

Sources

• Turkish soldiers training Iraqi troops near Mosul: sources - Reuters, December 4, 2015
• Iraq to Turn to UNSC if Turkey Fails to Withdraw Troops Within 48 Hours - Sputnik, December 6, 2015
• Turkey defends ground troops in Iraq as war escalates - Reuters, December 7, 2015

  The camp occupied by the Turkish troops is being used by a force called Hashid Watani, or national mobilization, made up of mainly Sunni Arab former Iraqi police and volunteers from Mosul.

  It is seen as a counterweight to Shi'ite militias that have grown in clout elsewhere in Iraq with Iranian backing, and was formed by former Nineveh governor Atheel al-Nujaifi, who has close relations with Turkey. A small number of Turkish trainers were already there before the latest deployment.

• Turkey sticks its neck out again, this time in Iraq - Metin Gurcan, Al-Monitor (Turkey Pulse), December 7, 2015

  The reinforcement detachment sent is a 400-strong battalion from the Siirt Third Commando Brigade supported by 25 M-60 A3 tanks that will bring the number of Turkish military personnel at Bashiqa camp to about 600. Of course, nobody can claim that this is a sufficient combat force for offensive action. But with this increase — finalized with the blessing of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) during the November visit of then-Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu to Erbil — Turkey has actually transformed the Bashiqa temporary training camp into an apparently permanent military base.

Video

• Turkey's military base in Mosul

Official statements

• Prime Minister's Media Office: The Iraqi government calls on Turkey to respect good neighbourly relations and to withdraw immediately from the Iraqi territory - December 3 2015

  The Turkish military “entered the Iraqi territory without the request or authorization from the Iraqi federal authorities and this is considered a serious breach of Iraqi sovereignty and does not conform with The Iraqi authorities call on Turkey to respect good neighborly relations and to withdraw immediately from the Iraqi territory.”

Analysis

• Erdogan Launched a Military Invasion of Iraq - Martin Berger, New Eastern Outlook, December 5, 2015
• Erdogan Moves To Annex Mosul - Moon of Alabama, December 6, 2015
• Is Erdogan's Mosul Escapade Blackmail For Another Qatar-Turkey Pipeline? - Moon of Alabama, December 7, 2015

  Erdogan visited Qatar on December 1 for two days and the two countries signed a number of "strategic agreements". The Turkish troops moved to Mosul on December 4 and 5. This makes the pipeline extortion that Turkey is said to try with Iraq at least plausible.

• What is the US cooking up for Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran? "Divide and conquer" on a whole new level - Svyatoslav Knyazev, PolitRussia, December 7, 2015
• Baghdad Issues Ultimatum After Turkish Army Moves Into Iraq Uninvited - Paul Kaiser, Russia Insider, December 7, 2015
• Turkish forces in Iraq to impose: The Gas versus the water - Elijah J. Magnier, December 8, 2015 (in Arabic)

  The size of the Turkish force that penetrated in Iraq goes beyond any training or protection level. It is composed of a brigade of special units of around 1300 men, an artillery regiment and two squadrons of helicopters based in Ba’shiqa. The intent of the Turkish troops is unknown. This force positioned itself on a demarcation front with “ISIS” without revealing its objective to Iraq. Is it to protect the oil tankers line coming form Syria and Iraq as Russia can’t hit the convoy in Iraq? Is it to support ISIS or to blackmail Iraq?

• What is Erdogan's Game in Syria and Iraq? - Pepe Escobar, Sputnik, December 7, 2015