© Turkish soldiers Osman Orsal/Reuters
The spokesman for the US-led anti-ISIS coalition has said Turkish ground troops in Iraq are not acting as part of the alliance. Baghdad has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting, saying Ankara is violating Iraqi sovereignty.
The statement came on Thursday from Col. John Dorrian, who is a spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF), an anti-Islamic State coalition consisting of 65 countries.
Dorrian announced during a briefing in Baghdad that Turkey is operating
"on its own" in Iraq, AP quoted him as saying. The coalition position is that every unit
"should be here with the coordination or and with the permission of the government of Iraq," he is also quoted as saying.
On Thursday, Baghdad called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to discuss the issue. The body should
"shoulder its responsibility and adopt a resolution to end to the Turkish troops' violation of Iraq's sovereignty," spokesperson for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Ahmad Jamal said.
Comment: Killary said in the 2nd presidential (sic) debate:
"I hope that by the time I am president, that we will have pushed ISIS out of Iraq."
The push she's referring to is
this announcement by the Pentagon that it is launching a major offensive against ISIS in Mosul, northern Iraq.
Having failed to do so in Syria, the Pentagon is now trying to secure a 'Kurdish foothold' in Iraq, in an effort to salvage some kind of 'victory' for Obama, and Hillary by association.
This move is also probably about the US consolidating its control in northern Iraq to stop Iran creating a corridor to the Mediterranean.
It's kind of neat when you can have your jihadis invade a specific part of a country, "forcing" you to "go in and push them out"... and then stay there to 'keep Russia and China out'.
It remains to be seen which side Turkey is taking.
Comment: Three more men - an American and two Russians - were arrested for allegedly exporting "sensitive military technology" (microelectronics) to Russia.