Iraqi court issues warrant against ex Mosul governor Erdogan poppet as troops fight ISIS for Mosul

October 21, 2016 By administrator

An Iraqi court issued an arrest warrant against former provincial governor Atheel al-Nujaifi for allegedly allowing Turkish troops into Iraq last year, a controversy that has resurfaced as Iraqi and Kurdish forces are locked in an offensive to evict ISIS from its stronghold of Mosul.

Nujaifi, a Sunni, was the governor of Nineveh Province – where Mosul is the capital — when it fell to ISIS in June 2014. The Iraqi parliament removed him from his position the year after.

According to Turkish authorities, Nujaifi had agreed to allowing Turkish troops into Iraq during his governorship.

Abdulstar Birqdar, the spokesman of the Iraqi judiciary, said Thursday that three Iraqi MPs had filed a complaint against Nujaifi in December last year, claiming he had “sought the help of a foreign state whereby he facilitated the Turkish troops and empowered them to open a military base in the Zilkan military camp north of the province.”

The court warrant accuses Nujaifi of spying for a foreign country.

According to Turkish authorities, it was Nujaifi who gave the green light for troops to set up base in Iraq. Turkey says its role at the Bashiqa camp had been to train the Sunni Nineveh Guard militia, formerly known as the Hashd al-Watani. Nujaifi is in command of the militia, which enjoys good relations with Turkey.

Nujaifi said in a Facebook posting after news of the warrant that the Mosul offensive was the priority at this time, and that his Turkish-trained forces would be fighting alongside the Iraqi army for Mosul. He downplayed the accusation, saying he would leave the issue to those interested in “trivia” until “the dust of war” is settled and the matter can be dealt with legally.

For months, in the run-up to the Mosul offensive that kicked off Monday, Iraq had publicly urged Ankara to withdraw its troops from its base in Bashiqa and warned against Turkish involvement in the liberation of Mosul.

Iraqi FM calls on Arab states to pressure Turkey into recalling troops

July 26, 2016 By administrator

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has called on Arab states to pressure Turkey into withdrawing its forces deployed in Iraq.

“We have called on the Turkish government many times via diplomats to return their forces to Turkey,” said Jaafari during the 27th Arab League Summit held in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott on Monday.

He noted that Turkey had vowed to withdraw its troops, but is yet to abide by its promise. He further stressed that Iraq had no need for Turkish troops on its soil.

Last December, Turkey deployed some 150 soldiers, equipped with heavy weapons and backed by 20 to 25 tanks, to the outskirts of Mosul, the capital of Iraq’s northern Nineveh province.

Ankara claimed the deployment was part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the fight against Daesh terrorists, but Baghdad denounced the unauthorized move as a violation of Iraq’s national sovereignty.

“Iraq’s policy of good neighborliness and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries and its commitment to good relations with Turkey does not mean it is prepared to neglect its sovereignty, which is still violated by the Turkish forces,” Jaafari said.

In June, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (seen above) said that Baghdad was harboring serious concerns over Ankara’s intended plans for the country’s second-largest city of Mosul, adding that any interference in the northern city would result in an extended and bloody war in the region.

Germany to recall troops from Turkish base if Ankara blocks MPs’ visit

July 13, 2016 By administrator

german troops Germany has said it will recall troops at its Incirlik airbase in Turkey if Ankara continues to block German MPs from visiting them. It’s perhaps the clearest sign yet of escalating tensions between the two NATO members.

Ankara, angered by a resolution passed by Germany’s parliament in June that terms the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces as genocide, has denied German MPs access to the Incirclik base.

“The German army answers to parliament,” Social Democrat leader and Deputy Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told the regional newspaper “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.”

“And if parliament cannot visit its army, then the army cannot stay there. This is absolutely clear,” Gabriel said, adding that all 250 soldiers at the base – part of NATO operations against “Islamic State” (IS) militants in Iraq – could be pulled out.

Crucial partners in efforts to stem mass migration to Europe, Germany and Turkey have fallen out in recent months, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan angry over various satirical broadcasts targeting him on German television, most notably an insulting “poem” by comedian Jan Böhmerrmann. The Armenian resolution, which prompted Ankara to recall its ambassador to Germany, has deepened the rift.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/germany-to-recall-troops-from-turkish-base-if-ankara-blocks-mps-visit/a-19397121

Germany may pull out troops from Turkish airbase in Incirlik

July 12, 2016 By administrator

incirlik gemany Germany may withdraw its troops from the Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey after its delegation was barred from visiting the facility, parliamentary speaker Norbert Lammert told local media, Sputnik News reports.

“It should probably be underscored again that Bundestag only allows sending German soldiers on international missions abroad when they are needed and welcome there,” Lammert told the German newspaper Sueddeutschen Zeitung on Monday.

The lawmaker, who presides over Bundestag, the lower house of the national parliament, added that German troops “will not stay for long where they are not welcome”.

The German parliament’s decision in June to label the 1915 massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as genocide soured relations between NATO allies, prompting Ankara to bar German lawmakers from visiting the Incirlik airbase last month.

Syrian troops near historic city of Palmyra: monitor

March 23, 2016 By administrator

208755 Syrian government forces and their allies pushed forward against Islamic State fighters to reach the outskirts of the historic city of Palmyra on Wednesday, March 23, Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, according to Reuters.

Clashes raged around the town after government forces took control of most of a nearby hill with air cover from Syrian and Russian warplanes, it said.

The Syrian army is trying to recapture Palmyra, which Islamic State seized in May, to open a road to the mostly IS-held eastern province of Deir ez-Zor.

Iraq sends more troops north for planned offensive to retake Mosul

February 22, 2016 By administrator

Iraqi army forces. Photo: Wikimedia

BAGHDAD,— Iraq sent more troops north on Sunday to prepare for an offensive the government has pledged to launch this year to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS).

Hundreds of forces from the army’s 15th division have already massed at Makhmour base, 70 km (45 miles) south of Mosul, and more forces, including Sunni Muslim tribal fighters, were expected to arrive in the coming days.

Accompanied by a large number of Humvees and armored vehicles, hundreds of troops of the army’s 71st Brigade left Taji camp, north of Baghdad heading for Makhmour as military build-up continues ahead of the offensive.

“We are here today to bid farewell to Mosul liberation troops. This is the first batch of 71st brigades. The troops are heading to Nineveh preceded by three battalions, which are based at Makhmour camp. Thank God, preparations are on and the morale of fighters is high. The movement of troops will continue,” said Minister of Defense Khaled al-Obeidi who oversaw the movement of troops.

Obaidi told Reuters last month that Iraq would launch the Mosul operation in the first half of the year and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said 2016 would see the “final victory” against the militants.

Some U.S. officials have endorsed that assessment, but a top U.S. intelligence officer told Congress last week any operation to retake Mosul would be long and complex and unlikely to finish this year.

Asked if the Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) known in Arabic as Hashid Shaabi would take part in the Mosul offensive, Obeidi said the decision has to be made by Abadi in his capacity as the general commander of the armed forces.

“The decision is up to the general commander of the armed forces. He has the final say. If he sees a need for Hashid, they will take part and if not, they will not take part,” he said.

Hashid Shaabi, is a loosely knit coalition of mostly Iran-backed Shiite militias set up to fight IS. The government sidelined the PMF in the Ramadi battle to ensure air support from the U.S. which is reluctant to be seen fighting on the same side as the Iranian-backed militias.

With more than a million people still living there, Mosul is the largest city controlled by IS, which declared a ‘caliphate’ in swathes of territory it seized in Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014.

Retaking it would be a huge boost for Iraqi forces who, backed by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition, reclaimed the western city of Ramadi from IS in late December.

Mosul, however, is a far larger city with a populace made up of many sects. And even in Ramadi, Iraqi forces are still working to secure that city and its environs.

Syria warns foreign troops would return home ‘in coffins’

February 6, 2016 By administrator

Associated Press

DAMASCUS: Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem warned Saturday that foreign ground troops entering Syria without its approval would “return home in wooden coffins.”

His comments came after Saudi Arabia said earlier this week it would be willing to send troops as part of a U.S.-led military campaign against ISIS. The group controls large parts of Syria and Iraq.

Moallem said conventional wisdom and logic would suggest the idea of Saudi troops in Syria is far-fetched, but that “with the crazy Saudi leadership nothing is far-fetched.”

“Any ground intervention in Syria, without the consent of the Syrian government, will be considered an aggression that should be resisted by every Syrian citizen,” he told a news conference in Damascus. “I regret to say that they will return home in wooden coffins.”

Moallem’s comments capped a week that saw the collapse of U.N.-led efforts to launch indirect peace talks between the Syrian government and an opposition delegation in Geneva.

The talks broke down in large part because of Syrian government offensives, including on the outskirts of Aleppo, once the country’s largest city. The offensive, aimed at encircling rebel strongholds in Aleppo, was backed by intense Russian airstrikes and sent thousands of area residents fleeing toward a closed Turkish border.

Moallem said the government advances signaled that the five-year-old Syria war is nearing its end. “I can say, from the achievements for our armed forces … that we are now on track to end the conflict,” he said. “Like it or not, our battlefield achievements indicate that we are headed toward the end of the crisis.”

Opposition representatives have said they cannot be expected to negotiate in Geneva at a time when the Syrian government and its allies, including Russia, are escalating attacks on rebel strongholds.

Moallem dismissed the representatives of the Saudi-backed opposition in Geneva, suggesting they followed orders from Saudi Arabia and were “not real Syrians.”

He alleged the opposition never intended to negotiate seriously. “They did not come to have dialogue, they did not have such orders,” he said.

Moallem said the Syrian government was ready to have dialogue with Syrians, but without preconditions.

Iraqi People have had enough with PM Abadi begging Turkey to leave Nanava,

January 23, 2016 By administrator

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has renewed his call on Turkey to withdraw its troops from northern Iraq, saying he hoped Ankara would help Baghdad fight Takfiri Daesh terrorists.

“I appeal to the Turkish government to help us, and withdraw their forces,” Abadi said Friday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos.

The prime minister said the Turkish government has failed to provide an answer to the question why its soldiers are on the Iraqi soil. “We have to have an answer.”

“We in Iraq want very good neighborly relations with Turkey, we hope Turkey will help us to fight Daesh,” Abadi added.

Last month, Turkey deployed some 150 soldiers, equipped with heavy weapons and backed by 20 to 25 tanks, to the outskirts of Mosul, the capital of Iraq’s northern Nineveh Province.

Ankara claimed the deployment was part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the anti-Daesh fight, but Baghdad denounced the uncoordinated move as a violation of Iraq’s national sovereignty.

“I don’t know what their aim is. Is it an expansionist plot to control part of Nineveh?” Abadi noted. “I hope not … I

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh mounted an offensive in the Arab country in June 2014.

Abadi said the violence perpetrated by Daesh in Iraq has left four million internal refugees.

Comment by Iraqi people

Charles Kerry9

Words don’t work ,diplomacy doesn’t work with Turks,

Zring8913

Why is Iraq so scared??? Just attack them and tell the West that Turkey has caused threat to Iraq as well they are illigaly stationed!!! The US and Nato can’t do anything u guys got Russia, China and Iran by ur side!!!

Marcus Garvey13

STOP BEGGING AND KICK THEM OUT!!!

anti terror15

Abadi is playing the American Zionist Game of Condemning Terrorism on one hand and Aiding Terror on the Other,rather than Appealing to Turkey use Force against it if Serious

Iraqi15

As someone who was born in Iraq I find this man out of touch , for so long he keeps repeating the same words and no action isn’t time he starts asking for help from Russia , what is going on have we lost our pride as Iraqis , he should retire go back doing what he used to do and let a brave leader take his place absolutely disgraceful .

Bahram15

Remove the turks by force if you did NOT invite Them or they dont leave the illigal occupied areas. You should have your legal basis in place to remove Them. WHO does NOT have the right to throw someone out WHO has enteties your home without invitation – everybody has the right to throw uninvited intruders out of theire homes.

Iraq FM tells Turkey to pull out of north, threatens action

December 30, 2015 By administrator

Iraq’s foreign minister has reiterated demands that Turkish troops pull out of northern Iraq, warning Ankara that Baghdad may otherwise have to consider military action, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

A Turkey-Iraq spat flared up in early December after Turkey deployed reinforcements to a camp in northern Iraq’s Bashiqa region where Ankara is helping train Sunni and Kurdish fighters to battle Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.

The deployment riled Baghdad, which considers the new troops an illegal incursion and which subsequently demanded their immediate and complete withdrawal.

After Iraq’s demands, Turkey began withdrawing the troops but not completely.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Dec. 30 that Baghdad will continue to pursue peaceful means, but that if there is no other solution and if “fighting is imposed on us, we will consider it to protect our sovereignty.”

Germany deploy more troops & AWACS planes to it’s WW1 Ally Turkey against Russia

December 27, 2015 By administrator

0,,16703722_303,00 (DW) report The German military is preparing to send more troops to support NATO member state Turkey, bordering Syria. But it is unclear exactly how many soldiers might have to join the mission.

Germany’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense informed the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, that several of NATO’s Airborne Early Warning and Control planes (AWACS) would temporarily be moved from Germany to the central Turkish city of Konya.

“Since Germany provides 30 percent of all personnel, our armed forces will clearly also be affected by the move,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said. However, it was unclear how many German soldiers exactly would be affected by the move.

The decision came after Turkey in November shot down a Russian jet fighter allegedly entering its air space while on a combat mission to neighboring Syria; the deployment of NATO’s AWACS planes is intended to stabilize the air space over Turkey and to avoid further shoot-downs of planes, as the diplomatic spat between the two nations that ensued threatened regional stability.

No need to go through parliament

The memo also pointed out that the Bundestag was not required to sign off the operation as this was not part of a combat mission. It specified that the self-declared “Islamic State” (IS) did not have any known air defenses of its own and that there were no indications that other parties involved in the conflict, such as Syria and Russia, would use their air force against NATO member Turkey. Some German parliamentarians have, however, demanded further explanations for the motivation behind the move.

The multinational crew aboard an AWACS plane is normally made up of 16 military personnel. With Germany providing roughly a third of the service members involved in the mission, the final number of Germans affected will depend on the number of planes agreed to be sent to the region.

A spokesman for Germany’s Ministry of Defense said that NATO was still in the “operational planning stages” and did not have any such details to divulge. The NATO plan also involves the strengthening of maritime defenses, which are also to be supplied by Germany as well as Denmark.