Sat Oct 22, 2016 19:09:39
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has reiterated his rejection Saturday of Turkish participation in the ongoing offensive to wrest Mosul back from the Islamic State (Daesh/ISIL/ISIS/IS) group.
Abadi insisted no Turkish involvement was wanted following a meeting with US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter, who was in Baghdad Saturday to review progress in the six-day-old offensive; AFP reported.
""I know that the Turks want to participate... We tell them 'thank you, this is something the Iraqis will handle and the Iraqis will liberate Mosul'," Abadi said. "We don't have any problems. If we need help, we will ask for it from Turkey or from other countries in the region," he said."
Carter visited NATO member Turkey on Friday and suggested he could see a role for Turkey in the Mosul operation.
On October 17, Abadi announced the start of a huge offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq's second city and the last major terrorists’ stronghold in the country.
Besides being Iraq's biggest military operation in years, the offensive is also extremely complex, owing to the large numbers of ethnic and religious groups in northern Iraq, many of which are backed by Turkey or Iran.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made it clear he wanted his forces to play an active part in the Mosul offensive.
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