Iraqi Turkmen want to participate in liberating Tal Afar from Daesh, says MP

A member of the Turkmen Front, Aidan Marouf MP, said on Sunday that the Turkmen factions in Iraq want to participate in any operation to retake the district of Tal Afar, 65 km west of Mosul, from the Daesh terrorist group, Anadolu has reported.

Marouf said that the Iraqi Turkmen Front military force will contribute to strengthening the political front in Tal Afar and the rest of Iraq. “We have discussed with the central government in Baghdad the liberation of Tal Afar and Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi understands our concerns,” he explained. “The prime minister expressed approval for the Turkmen’s participation in the campaign against Tal Afar.”

The MP stressed that the Iraqi Turkmen Front opposes the division of Mosul along sectarian and ethnic lines.

The Iraqi forces have been advancing at a faster pace towards retaking Mosul, but Shia Popular Mobilisation Forces have not resumed their military operations as they prepare to progress towards Tal Afar. Al-Abadi has ordered the PMF to impose a siege on Tal Afar, in preparation for the Iraqi army’s planned storming of the district in order to avoid inciting sectarian divisions therein, as it is inhabited by a majority of Shia and Sunni Turkmen Muslims.