Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Iraqi MP Warns of Erdogan's 'Aspirations' in North


Sun 17 Jan 2021 | 01:15 PM
Omnia Ahmed

On Saturday, a member of Iraqi parliament warned of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s aspiration in northern Iraq, stating that the Turkish incursion into the country is due to the Saddam Hussein's regime.

"Le Figaro," French newspaper, published a report on Saturday, in which it shed light on what it called "Erdogan's plans in 2021 for further territorial expansion".

"Erdogan has aspirations in Iraq. There is nothing to stop him,” Le Figaro asserted.

Earlier last year, the Turkish military operations have intensified under various titles, all indicating a major operation in the coming months, according to the newspaper, which noted that the Turkish president will establish permanent military base to clear the border area between Turkey and Iraq of the PKK militants.

In response to the report, Ayoub al-Rubaie, a member of the Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Committee, mentioned that the Hussein's regime concluded an agreement with Turkey nearly half a century ago, allowing the Turkish forces to penetrate into the country's territory and fight the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

“Turkey has high aspirations in Iraq,” al-Rubaie stated during an interview with “Baghdad Today”. “The incursions, happening now, are an attempt to exploit the internal situation of Iraq to impose a fait accompli policy.”

The Turkish presence, including bases and military, is considered a violation of the country's sovereignty.

“Any attempt to control more lands in the country will not be easy,” he said, stressing that “Iraq is not a weak country.”

"The government need to have a decisive position on these violations, by presenting the file to the United Nations and the Arab League," he affirmed.