BAGHDAD — Tensions between Turkey and Iraq continued to escalate Wednesday as Iraq's prime minister rejected Turkish claims that their forces must be included in an operation to retake the militant-held city of Mosul.



"We will liberate our land through the determination of our men and not by video calls," Haider al-Abadi said late Tuesday night on his Twitter account, mocking the Turkish president's nationally broadcast video call to a TV journalist amid a failed coup attempt in July.

Earlier Tuesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkish forces cannot be excluded from the long-awaited operation to retake Mosul, telling Iraq's al-Abadi to "know his place."

Turkey-Iraq relations became strained after Ankara sent troops late last year to the region of Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul, to train anti-IS fighters there — a move Baghdad has since labeled a "blatant violation" of its sovereignty. Iraq has demanded a Turkish withdrawal, but Ankara has repeatedly ignored the call.

"You are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level, you are not my equivalent, you are not of the same quality as me," Erdogan said Tuesday, addressing Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a speech delivered in Istanbul. "Your screaming and shouting in Iraq is of no importance to us. You should know that we will go our own way."

Iraq's powerful Shiite militias — one of the many groups expected to take part in the fight to retake Mosul — have also called for an immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops.

"We did not and will not allow the Turkish forces to violate Iraq's sovereignty," said Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr Brigade, one of the most prominent Shiite militia groups. "We affirm, the Turks must withdraw their forces and if they insist on staying, they have no one to blame but themselves. The arrogance and vanity that we hear today in Erdogan's language, he will not only regret it but he will actually see it."

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The operation to retake Mosul is expected to be the most complex yet for Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led coalition air power. Iraq's military is still rebuilding after nearly a third of its forces disintegrated when Mosul first fell to IS more than two years ago. Since then the extremists have been pushed from more than half of the territory they once held in Iraq, according to figures released by al-Abadi's office.

In Beirut, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said the operation to retake Mosul risks pushing Islamic State militants into eastern Syria, calling that an American ploy of which the Iraqis should be wary.

Speaking Wednesday to a crowd during a religious ceremony south of Beirut, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose group is fighting in Syria alongside government forces, said "this American deception will put your victory in Mosul to waste."

He called on Iraqi leaders, including Shiite militias, to kill and imprison IS militants, denying them an escape route to Syria. Their presence in Syria, he said, will be a continuous threat to Iraq.</s>ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey can't be excluded from a possible operation to recapture the Iraqi city of Mosul, Turkey's president said Tuesday, telling Iraq's leader to "know his place."



Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks were likely to add to tensions between the two neighbors, which are key U.S. partners in the fight against the Islamic State group.



In a speech delivered in Istanbul, Erdogan also said Turkish troops wouldn't withdraw from a base near Mosul, saying the Turkish army wouldn't take orders from Baghdad. Turkey is training anti-IS fighters to help retake Mosul from the extremist group.



Turkey-Iraq relations became strained after Ankara sent troops late last year to the region of Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul, to train anti-IS fighters there — a move Baghdad has since labeled a "blatant violation" of its sovereignty. Iraq has demanded a Turkish withdrawal, but Ankara has repeatedly ignored the call.



Turkish warnings about possible sectarian clashes in Mosul if the majority Sunni region were placed under Shiite militia control also have drawn Baghdad's ire. Last week, both countries summoned each other's ambassadors while Iraq requested an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council over the presence of unauthorized Turkish troops in northern Iraq.



Speaking to Muslim religious leaders from the Balkans and Central Asia, Erdogan said objections from Iraq wouldn't stop Turkey from participating in any operation to free Mosul and proceeded to make vitriolic remarks against Iraq's prime minister.



"You are not my interlocutor, you are not at my level, you are not my equivalent, you are not of the same quality as me," Erdogan said, addressing Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. "Your screaming and shouting in Iraq is of no importance to us. You should know that we will go our own way."



Erdogan also said Turkey wouldn't withdraw its troops from the base in Bashiqa, adding that it was al-Abadi himself who had asked Ankara to train fighters there back in 2014.



"Turkey's army hasn't lost enough of its quality to take orders from you," Erdogan said in response to Iraqi calls for the troop's withdrawal. "We would do whatever is necessary as we have done until today."



Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, meanwhile, again warned that any operation to free Mosul shouldn't lead to any demographic change. Turkish is worried that once Mosul is liberated from IS, Kurds or Shiite groups may take Mosul over and push out Sunni Arabs or ethnic Turkmens.



"We have explained to all of our friends that the operation planned for Mosul should be limited to removing Daesh," Yildirim said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.



"If you, after removing Daesh, attempt to change Mosul's demographic structure, you will light the fire of a very big civil war, of a sectarian war. This is our warning."</s>It cited officials who took part in talks between Turkey and the United States, as well as Iraqi sources, as saying the operation would begin within a few days, "if there is no extraordinary development".

Turkey has been locked in a fierce row with Iraq over who should take part in the Mosul assault. On Thursday, President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman warned any mistake in the operation could result in hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Mosul, home to up to 1.5 million people, has been at the heart of Islamic State's self-declared caliphate in Iraq since 2014. The U.S.-backed assault on the city has been expected to begin this month.

Anadolu said the Turkish-trained forces would participate in the operation together with the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, with the latter launching the operation.

Turkish soldiers have been training Sunni Muslim and allied Peshmerga units at Bashiqa.

Baghdad's Shi'ite-led government objects to the Turkish military presence and wants its own forces at the forefront of the Mosul assault. Turkey fears the use of Shi'ite militias, which Iraqi army units have relied on in the past, will stoke sectarian unrest.

Broadcaster CNN Turk said the head of Turkey's armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, was going to the United States to attend a meeting of his counterparts from coalition countries.</s>Iraqi special forces soldiers deployed for an offensive to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants prepare to move out from a camp near Khazer, Iraq, on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016.

KHAZIR, Iraq — The US-led coalition is increasing airstrikes in and around the militant-held city of Mosul as Iraqi ground forces build up ahead of a planned operation to retake the city, it said in a statement Friday.

The coalition said its planes had conducted more than 50 airstrikes against the Islamic State group in the Mosul area over the past two weeks.

"We have been intensifying our efforts in and around Mosul," said Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the US-led coalition.

Iraqi ground forces are moving into place to the south and east of Mosul. While Qayara air base to the south of Mosul remains the main base of operations, Iraqi army convoys, including a unit of the country's elite special forces, could be seen traveling to frontline positions to the east of the city.

"All the troop movements now are related to the Mosul operation," said Iraqi Army Brig. Gen. Firas Bashar, stationed at an Iraqi army base in Makhmour.

The operation to retake Mosul is expected to be the most complex yet for Iraq's military. Iraqi and coalition forces say some 30,000 troops will be needed to retake the city that has been under IS control for more than two years.</s>An ugly public feud between two key U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State will not affect plans for recapturing a key city from the group, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.

Col. John Dorrian, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, played down the effect of this week's clash between the leaders of Iraq and Turkey, as the U.S. military prepares to assist an Iraqi assault on the city of Mosul, a major objective in defeating the Islamic State.

"Planning for the liberation of Mosul continues," Dorrian told reporters in a briefing at the Pentagon. "We're a military organization, and we stay focused on military tasks. So, all the strikes that we've been doing, all the training we've been doing, all the advising and assisting with things like logistics, all those elements are being put in place to support the Iraqi advance when they're ready to do it."

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is expected to launch an operation this month aimed at recapturing the northern city, which has been occupied by the Islamic State for more than two years. The Iraqi leader faces an array of challenges in that fight, including thick militant defenses and the problem of managing a diverse force including Iraqi troops, militiamen and foreign advisers. In an additional sign of the complexities in Iraq, there is also a modest Turkish force on a base near Mosul, and its presence has repeatedly been condemned by Abadi.

About 1,500 Turkish troops are believed to be stationed at several locations in northern Iraq, primarily training Kurdish peshmerga troops, according to U.S. officials.

The tensions escalated this week after Turkish leaders affirmed their intention to keep those troops in Iraq until after Mosul, which also includes a sizable Turkmen population, can be recovered, prompting emphatic Iraqi objections.

In a speech Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Abadi should "know his place."

"You are not my interlocutor anyway. You are not on my level, you are not of my quality," Erdogan said, according to Reuters. "You ranting and raving from Iraq is not of any importance to us."

Abadi hit back on Twitter, referencing Erdogan's use of cellphone video technology. During the recent coup attempt in Turkey, Erdogan used a video chat app on a phone to address the nation.

"The day of victory is near," Abadi's office said in a statement. "We won't be discouraged by those who want to deter us from our fundamental goal and thrust us into a media war."

The dispute is an additional headache for the Obama administration, which is hoping the Mosul operation will deal a decisive blow to the Islamic State in Iraq and set the stage for a final battle in their de facto capital, the Syrian city of Raqqa. Washington has already been seeking to reduce its own tensions with Turkey over U.S. support to Kurdish factions in Syria and over the U.S. response to this summer's failed coup attempt in Turkey.

Dorrian said there were diplomatic efforts underway to smooth things over between Ankara and Baghdad.</s>(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, that Turkey will not take instructions from Iraq, Anadolu Agency reported.

In his speech to the 9th Eurasian Islamic Council in Istanbul, Erdogan told Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi not to cross the line, and added that the presence of Turkish Troops in Iraq is based on an Iraqi official demand.

Erdogan said, “Abadi himself had asked Turkey to form a military base in Bashiqa, northeast of the ISIS-held city of Mosul, during the term of former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu,” adding that, “We have live records of this and will broadcast it on television channels today or tomorrow.”

The Turkish President also explained that the Turkish army has not lost its standing and won’t take instructions from Abadi who is now calling Turkey to withdraw its troops from Iraq, while emphasized that Turkey would continue to do “what is necessary” in Iraq.</s>(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Foreign troops in Iraq should be there with the approval of the central government in Baghdad and under the umbrella of the anti-ISIS international coalition, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

“It is imperative for all parties to coordinate closely over the coming days and weeks to ensure unity of effort in defeating ISIS, and to provide for the lasting security of the Iraqi people,” the State Department said.

Tension between Turkey and Iraq increased over the presence of about 2,000 Turkish troops at Bashiqa base north of Iraq, as Iraqi security forces backed by the international coalition troops prepare for an offensive on the ISIS-held city of Mosul.

Yesterday, tension escalated between the Turkish President and Iraqi Prime Minister, when Erdogan told Haider al-Abadi to know his limits, and added that Turkey would continue to do what is necessary in Iraq.

Meanwhile, Abadi responded to Erdogan’s remarks and said, “We are not your enemy, and we will liberate our land through the determination of our men and not by video calls.”</s>Turkey is determined to prevent a planned operation to push out Islamic State from the Iraqi city of Mosul from causing "blood and fire" in the region due to sectarian conflict, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Turkey is being "indecently" targeted on the issue of Mosul because it is upsetting the regional balances, Erdogan also told a judiciary ceremony in comments broadcast live.

Despite objections from Baghdad, Ankara wants to keep the troops it has stationed at the Bashiqa military camp in northern Iraq until Islamic State militants have been driven from Mosul.</s>Members of Iraqi security forces gesture as a convoy advances on the outskirts of Mosul, to fight against the Daesh terror group militants in Kirkuk, Iraq, Wednesday (Reuters photo)

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi foreign ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador on Thursday to protest the continued presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraq without Baghdad's permission, a ministry spokesman said.

Turkish troops are deployed in the Bashiqa area near the extremist-held city of Mosul, and Turkey's prime minister has said that they will stay despite Baghdad's demands that they be withdrawn.

The Turkish ambassador was given "a strongly worded formal note of protest" regarding "the continued presence of Turkish forces near Bashiqa and recent abusive statements from their leadership", spokesman Ahmed Jamal told AFP.

Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi to "know your place", and said that he is "not on my level".

And Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said last week that the country's forces would stay "no matter what the Iraqi government in Baghdad says".

Abadi has repeatedly demanded that the Turkish troops be withdrawn and said that they will not take part in the impending operation to recapture Mosul from the Daesh terror group.

The US State Department issued a statement earlier this week that implicitly backed Iraq's position, saying that: "We believe all international forces in Iraq should be there with the approval of and in coordination with the government of Iraq."

Iraqi forces are preparing for the operation to retake Mosul from Daesh, which is expected to be the toughest and most complex battle of the country's more than two-year war against the extremists.

More than 7,000 military personnel from a US-led coalition are deployed in Iraq to support Baghdad's forces, but the coalition has repeatedly stated that the Turkish deployment is not part of its operations.</s>President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey, locked in an escalating row with Iraq over who should take part in the planned Mosul assault, would do all it could to prevent the operation from deepening sectarian conflict on its borders.

Mosul, home to up to 1.5 million people, has been the headquarters of Islamic State's self-declared caliphate in northern Iraq since 2014. The battle for the city, expected later this month, will help shape the future of Iraq and the legacy of U.S. President Barack Obama.

"We will use all our resources to prevent our brothers in Syria and Iraq from being crushed under the wheels of global power games, and to keep us from suffering a similar fate," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul.

"We are determined to deflate the balloon of sectarian conflict aimed at drowning the region in blood and fire."

Soldiers from Turkey, a regional power with the second largest armed forces in NATO, have been training Sunni Muslim and Kurdish Peshmerga units at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq and want them to take part in the expected battle for Mosul.

But their presence has sparked a row with the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad, which is keen that its forces be at the forefront of the offensive.

The United States on Tuesday urged the two governments to resolve the spat, which could affect the planned U.S.-backed assault. It said any foreign forces in Iraq should be there with the approval of the Baghdad government and under the umbrella of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State.

Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State and has played a frontline role in Syria. It says its troops are in Iraq as part of an international mission to train and equip Iraqi forces to fight Islamic State.

"Turkey does not move on orders from others ... Turkey’s presence in the Bashiqa camp will remain until Mosul is rid of Daesh," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told the state-run Anadolu Agency on Wednesday, using an acronym for Islamic State.

"Whoever the Mosul population is, Arabs or Turkmen, they have lived together for centuries and will continue to do so. If you change the ethnic structure here, the people there will not allow it ... This is our perspective as Turkey. Turkey’s force in the region cannot be questioned," he said.

Turkey's parliament voted two weeks ago to extend the deployment of an estimated 2,000 troops across northern Iraq by a year to combat "terrorist organizations" - a wording broad enough to refer to Kurdish militants as well as Islamic State.

Iraq condemned the vote, and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned Turkey risked triggering a regional war. His government has requested an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the issue, and both countries have summoned each other's ambassadors in a mounting diplomatic stand-off.

Erdogan warned Abadi in a speech on Tuesday that he should "know his place", saying: "You are not my interlocutor anyway. You are not on my level, you are not of my quality. You ranting and raving from Iraq is not of any importance to us."

"Yes, we sure are not your equal, because we liberate our land with men not via Skype," he wrote, in apparent reference to an attempted coup in Turkey in July in which Erdogan addressed the nation via a video chat service on a cellphone.

On Wednesday, Erdogan lashed out at those criticizing Turkey's position on the Mosul operation, saying Ankara was being "indecently attacked" because it was daring to disrupt the regional balance of power.

Turkey shares a 1,200 km (750-mile) border with Syria and Iraq and faces threats from Islamic State militants in both. But it is concerned that international efforts to destroy the radical Islamists will leave new dangers in their wake.

The Turkish army launched an incursion into Syria in August to push back Islamic State and prevent the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia from seizing ground. Ankara is furious at Washington's support for what it sees as a hostile force.

Erdogan slammed comments by U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a debate on Sunday that she would consider arming Kurdish fighters in Syria, describing her words as "unfortunate and amateurish". He accused Washington of "working with one terrorist organization to destroy another".

The Turkish military, shaken by July's failed coup and already busy with its Syria offensive and a Kurdish militant insurgency at home near the Iraqi border, could be stretched by conflict on a third front.

Security sources said soldiers and military equipment, including armored vehicles, had been deployed near the Iraqi border with Iraq in recent days. The head of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, and force commanders visited army units in the border province of Sirnak on Wednesday.

Kurtulmus said Turkey would participate in the Mosul operation if the Kurdish YPG was not also involved. Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the PKK militant group, which has fought a three-decade insurgency in southeastern Turkey and has bases in northern Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi rejects Turkey's claim that Turkish forces must be included in an operation to retake the militant-held city of Mosul.