Carter to meet Turkey leaders, stress Iraqi sovereignty
Turkey’s Defence Minister States Defence Secretary ANKARA: United States Defence Secretary Ash Carter, arriving in Turkey yesterday, said he will tell Turkish leaders that it’s important to respect Iraqi sovereignty. But he stopped short of saying that he will press the Turks to remove any forces that are operating in Iraq without Baghdad’s invitation.
Carter’s meetings here with top leaders and defence officials came amid escalating tensions between Turkey and Iraq, over Turkish military operations in northern Iraq as allied forces moved to retake Mosul from Islamic State militants.
“We’ve long had discussions with everyone about this — about respect for Iraqi sovereignty in the conduct of the counter-IS campaign,” Carter told reporters traveling with him to Turkey.
“It’s very important for all the (second from left) welcoming
yesterday. members of the counter-IS campaign to participate in that integrated way. Will I be talking with the Turks about that? Absolutely.”
It was not clear how strong Carter intended to be in his discussions with Turkish leaders, or what impact it could have on the situation.
The key was to “keep everybody focused on the object here which is to defeat IS”, Carter said, “because that is a threat to all three of us”.
The angry rhetoric between Iraq and Turkey had grown as the Mosul campaign continued to take shape.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider alAbadi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had traded insults, and earlier this week, thousands of followers of a Shia cleric rallied outside the Turkish embassy in Baghdad, calling for an end to the Turkish “occupation”. AP