Alwaght- Turkey retreated from its former claims to enter the ongoing operation to liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul on Saturday.
In a clear change of stance, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country will not enter the operation to liberate Mosul from ISIS terrorists.
"The land operation must be conducted by [the Iraqi] national army instead of different groups. It is out of the question that Turkey or other countries join in the land operation,” he said.
Speaking to journalists at a meeting of Justice and Development (AK) Party members in Afyonkarahisar, the minister however did not rule out the possibility of Turkish Special Forces to act in support of Nineveh forces they have trained.
"There are Peshmerga fighters that Turkey trained, there are Nineveh forces in there. If needed, our special forces can of course join to support the local fighters,” Cavusoglu said.
Cavusoglu added that Turkey is “currently supporting the operation through our air force”. He did not elaborate on the role of Turkish air power over Mosul.
His comments were reinforced by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in an interview on state-run broadcaster TRT on Saturday night. “Currently, there is no need for us to actively take part in the grand operation,” he said. “There are air and ground elements inside the coalition forces. Turkey will take part in the air elements.”
Many Turkish officials including the foreign minister and prime minister, had repeatedly called for a role in the Mosul operation. Iraq insistently rejected all calls and even threatened to take possible actions in needed. The current withdraw by Turkish officials seem to end the rhetorical between the two neighbors.
On another occasion however Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his interventionist calls by saying the country will move further inside Syria, another country Ankara is illegally intervening.
In a possible reference to the abovementioned retreat on Mosul, he said “Now, ‘do not go to Al-Bab’ they say. We have to; we will go. Why? Because we need to prepare a terror-free zone there.”
Like Iraq, Syrian government, too, has condemned Turkish incursions into its territory. Turkey claims to fight ISIS terrorist in its Euphrates Shield operation north of Syria. Ankara plans to further its incursion to the ISIS-held city of al-Bab.
“If the coalition forces are ready to move together, we will do what is necessary against ISIS in Raqqa too. But not together with the PYD or YPG,” he added.
