Turkish-trained forces may take part in Mosul operation

Forces trained by the Turkish military at the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq will take part in the planned operation to drive Daesh out of the city of Mosul, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported today.

It cited officials who took part in talks between Turkey and the United States, as well as Iraqi sources, as saying the operation would begin within a few days “if there is no extraordinary development.”

Turkey has been locked in a fierce row with Iraq over who should take part in the Mosul assault. Yesterday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s spokesman warned any mistake in the operation could result in hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Anadolu said the Turkish-trained forces would participate in the operation together with the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga militia of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq.

Turkish soldiers have been training Sunni Muslim fighters connected to former governor of Mosul, Atheel Al-Nujaifi, as well as allied Peshmerga units at Bashiqa.

Baghdad’s Shia-led government has previously objected to any Turkish military presence and wants its own forces at the forefront of the Mosul assault, although Baghdad also appears to have relented on Turkey’s military presence, as US officials suggested that Iraq was “fine” with Ankara stationing troops in Iraq.

A Kurdish intelligence official told MEMO last week that the Iraqi “Golden Division” as well as federal police will be taking the lead on the operation, with Shia militias – widely accused of war crimes – and Peshmerga units being responsible for other areas around the city.

Turkey fears the use of Shia militias, which Iraqi army units have relied on heavily in the past, will stoke sectarian unrest.

Turkey also fears the involvement of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group active in Turkey, as they believe it may legitimise them internationally by making them an active partner in the fight against Daesh.

Broadcaster CNN Turk said the head of Turkey’s armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, was going to the United States to attend a meeting of his counterparts from coalition countries to discuss the upcoming operation.

Mosul, home to up to 1.5 million people, has been at the heart of Daesh’s self-declared caliphate since 2014. The US-backed assault on the city is widely expected to begin this month.