Alwaght- The Syrians and Iraqis were taken aback to see the Turkish parliament has extended the mandate that allowed the government use army in Syria and Iraq. The move has displayed Turkey’s persistence in expanding its borders indirectly as some analysts said. This important development that drew joint Syrian and Iraqi attention made topic for an Alwaght's interview with the Iraqi Member of Parliament Dr. Mohammad Mahdi al-Bayati and the Syrian political analyst Professor Talib Ibrahim.
Alwaght: How will Syria and Iraq react after Turkey’s parliament extended mission of army in the Iraqi and Syrian territories for another year despite official and popular opposition to the move?
Al-Bayati: Iraq as a whole and the Iraqi government at home and abroad have taken a firm stance about need for Turkey to move forces out of Iraqi territory. The Turks argue that the anti-Ankara forces represented by the PKK are existing on the Iraqi soil. But we say this is not enough to make excuse for intervention. There are international organizations belonging to the UN that Turkey can refer to, to see if it has the right to pursue PKK inside the Iraqi territory. The Turks took this unjustified excuse for ether objectives. They have to pull out their forces before it is too late. Iraq has used all of the diplomatic channels to ask the Turkish forces out including an appeal to the UN. At the same time, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi in his latest visit to the UN insisted that the Turkish forces must withdraw from Iraq. But unfortunately Turkey still dreams of Mosul state to expand presence in a larger area in a bid to restore the Ottoman Empire. But this is an ambitious and wrong policy and they have to forsake it because Iraq is an important member of the UN and will not stay actionless in front of these provocative moves.
Ibrahim: I think ongoing Turkish interventions in Syria and Iraq will lead to unlimited clashes in both countries. There is a popular opposition beside the official objection. The Syrian government will place an appeal to the UN. Perhaps if the Turkish forces keep creeping into the Syrian territory, there will be a military confrontation between the Syrian and Turkish armies. It is a big and dangerous situation. It is not a trivial issue to be disregarded.
Alwaght: Are the Turkish forces in Bashiqa in northern Iraq now under threat especially after disapproval of the Iraqi political parties of the Turkish intrusion and the fatwas that considered the Turkish forces as invading and occupying the Iraqi territories?
Al-Bayati: Yes, that’s right. According the international principles, any military forces get into Iraqi territory without approval of the Iraqi government will be considered as invading and occupying forces. The next few days will see launching operation to liberate Mosul from ISIS terrorist group, and we are concerned about possible collisions with the Turkish forces. I think it is in best interest of Ankara to pull out forces before it is too late and before its forces get encircled like ISIS forces in Mosul.
Ibrahim: The same is in Syria, or perhaps more risky, because there are Russian forces beside the Syrian army. Therefore, I believe that Turkey’s crossing certain lines will be faced with strong reactions not calculated by Ankara. The Syrian and Russian leaders' tolerance is limited especially that they are close to concluding Aleppo battle. Then the treatment of Turkey will be totally different, and could even develop to a direct military action against the Turks.
Alwaght: After stall in Turkey’s movement for a long time, what do you think has motivated Ankara to speed up moves in northern Syria and Iraq?
Al-Bayati: This is a reaction to the determination of the Iraqis, the Public Mobilization Forces (PMF), and the clergy to liberate Mosul despite others' will. Actually, some sides began to plan their cards in Iraq and Syria to make them trump cards. But I think that they are failed cards and are of no use for them in the future. They are wrong to think that this incursion makes a pressure card against the Iraqi government just because Baghdad is not strong enough to make any move against them. I firmly believe that all of these cards, particularly the security pressure and betting on failure of Mosul liberation operation, will lose and Mosul will be freed just like Al Anbar, Salahadin, Diyala, and other parts of Iraq that were liberated by the MPF and other armed forces.
Ibrahim: I think that the Turks began to think that they can play roles especially after Erdogan eliminated his opponents at home. Turkey seeks reserving a place in both Syrian and Iraqi cases particularly as some cases like Mosul and Aleppo battles are nearing their conclusion. So, we see Turkey speeding up moves to get a toehold in the negotiating table.
Alwaght: How does Turkey dare sending forces to other countries without coordination with them or the UN or at least allies of those countries?
Ibrahim: What the Turks do is not audacity but impudence and an effort to reshuffle the cards and to ignite a war in the region as part of attempts by the Turks and NATO to flee forward because the time of proxy war has ended or it is in its last stages. When the proxies fail the masters come ahead, which are the Turks, Americans, and Israelis. So, in the future we will see even more interventions by these parties. They will seek directly provoking the Syrian government into a large-scale war that they think will be humiliating to Syria and Russia. But their calculations are wrong because the Syrian army has great strategic potentials and Russia has unconventional powers qualified to conclude any kind of conflicts.
