Alwaght- Iraqi parliament members fiercely reacted to the decision of their Turkish counterparts in extending army incursion into Iraqi and Syrian territories.
One of the Iraqi representatives told the Sumaria News site that the extension was a cover for a hidden agenda pursued by Ankara to block the Mosul liberation operation.
The Iraqi army is on its final preparations to launch an extensive operation to liberate the ISIS-held Mosul.
“We all hoped that the Turkish parliament would announce the withdrawal of the Turkish army from the Nineveh province as we get closer to the military operation to liberate the province,” Rasul al-Tayee, an MP from the Ahrar bloc said in a statement.
“The parliament decision to extend the mandate for another year obstructs the liberation of the Nineveh operation from the ISIS terrorists,” he added.
On Saturday, the Turkish parliament renewed the military mandate for another year, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying this gives Ankara a significant role in shaping the post-ISIS future of its two neighbors. He also said Turkish forces would play a role in the anticipated offensive to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul from ISIS.
“The Turkish president’s statements and his announcement for the participation of his country’s troops in the liberation of Mosul are like the occupation of Iraq,” al-Tayee said. “Their insistence on staying hides many issues that no one knows except God.”
He called on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to “take a stance against their presence and consider them as an occupying force.”
Firdaws al-Awadi, an MP from the State of Law bloc in the Iraqi parliament, attacked the Turkish extension and called on the government to “take a tougher stance against Turkish ambitions.”
Turkish army entered the Iraqi and Syrian territorial lands claiming a war on ISIS terrorist and deterring Kurdish armed groups from advancing toward its already embattled southern borders.
Many media reports, however, mention a secret collaboration between Ankara and the ISIS terrorist especially in Syria. The most famous case was when a former ISIS commander told the British Independent newspaper that they imported weapons into Syria from Turkish borders freely.
