Pentagon Chief to Stress Iraq Sovereignty in Turkey Talks

Local Editor

US War Secretary Ash Carter said he would stress the need to respect Iraq's sovereignty during a visit Friday to Turkey, which has been locked in a dispute with Baghdad over who should participate in the campaign to retake Mosul from Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"].

Carter, acknowledging it was a delicate issue, declined to explicitly say whether he thought Turkey should be allowed to participate in the operations in Iraq. Washington in the past has deferred that matter to Baghdad.

"Of course we'll talk about that. And yes, of course there are sensitivities there. We conduct ourselves, and the coalition does, respecting Iraqi sovereignty. That's an important principle of ours," Carter said.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has been frustrated that NATO member Turkey has not been more involved in the US-backed assault on Mosul and angered by Washington's support for Kurdish forces battling Daesh in Syria.

Asked about Turkish air strikes that pounded a group of Kurdish forces allied to a US-backed militia in northern Syria, Carter said he was not certain about what precisely transpired.

"I can't clarify that now," he said.

The specific groups struck by Turkish jets were not themselves US-backed, but were "close to and friendly with" the fighters Washington is working with, a US war official said Thursday.

Ankara has been in a row with Iraq over the presence of Turkish troops at the Bashiqa camp near Mosul, as well as over who should take part in the offensive in the Mosul.

A US war official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged Turkey had legitimate security concerns in Iraq but added that Washington had been clear that "no military should be operating in areas [of Iraq] where they aren't invited expressly."

"We have been working behind the scenes to get the Iraqis and the Turks to come to an understanding about how we're going to move forward on Mosul," the official said.

Carter steered clear of directly commenting on the matter ahead of his talks in Turkey. He acknowledged the United States was partnering with both Iraq and Turkey in the fight against Daesh.

"These are two close friends of ours. In the case of Turkey, it's a NATO ally. And we want to keep everybody focused on the objective here, which is to defeat 'ISIS', because that is a threat to all three of us," Carter said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team