The Gulf countries are backing Iraq against Turkey

[achhu]

The Gulf backs Iraq

The Gulf countries are backing Iraq in the face of Turkish aggression as part of their stand against Ankara’s expansionism elsewhere in the region, writes Ahmed Mostafa

Ahmed Mostafa

7 Jul 2020

Iraqi troops are reinforcing their positions along the border with Turkey to prevent Turkish forces from advancing deeper into Iraqi territory after more than two weeks of airstrikes and Turkey’s establishment of more than ten posts inside Iraqi territory.

Turkey has bombarded Kurdish villages in northern Iraq leaving more than half a dozen civilians dead, and Iraqi troops have advanced in response almost 15 km into Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iraq is in an awkward position, as the government of the semi-autonomous Kurdish Region has not taken a strong position in opposing the Turkish attacks, while the internal pressures on the newly appointed government in Baghdad have been mounting.

Iraq is still negatively affected by US and Iranian influence, limiting its capabilities of defending itself. Pro-Iranian Shiite militias that are almost as strong as the Iraqi army are at odds with the Iraqi government. With reports of Iran supporting the Turkish attacks on northern Iraq and even coordinating the joint bombing of the Yazidi area of Sinjar with Turkey, these militias are unlikely to fight against the Turkish incursions into Iraq.

Apart from Qatar, all the Arab countries have condemned the Turkish attacks on Iraq and its continued military violation of Iraqi sovereignty. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Kuwait have expressed their backing for Iraq against the Turkish aggression. However, Turkey has refused to stop its military campaign on Iraqi territory and has vowed to continue its incursions.

Qatar is the only Gulf country not to support Iraq against the Turkish and Iranian military incursions, explained by the fact that Qatar is an ally of Iran and Turkey and is cooperating with Ankara in the latter’s campaigns in Syria and Libya.

Kuwait strongly condemned the Turkish and Iranian military attacks on northern Iraq. The official Kuwaiti news agency KUNA quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying that “these interventions constitute a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and are against all international norms and legal rules. They pose a threat to Iraq’s security and the region’s stability.”

The official said that Kuwait stood by Iraq and backed the measures the Baghdad government was taking to safeguard its sovereignty, security and stability. Kuwait has good relations with both Turkey and Iran, even if it is not an ally of either, and its relations with its neighbour Iraq have been improving in recent years.

Saudi Arabia has taken a similar position, noting that the “Turkish and Iranian military interventions in Iraq threaten regional security and are in violation of international law.” Saudi Arabia’s relations with Iraq have been improving recently.

The UAE also condemned Turkey and expressed its support for Iraq in facing the Turkish aggression. “The UAE denounces the Turkish and Iranian military interventions in Iraq through their bombing of areas in northern Iraq, which constitute a violation of the sovereignty of a fellow Arab country and have led to intimidation and the spread of terror among innocent civilians,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.

The UAE has good relations with the Kurds, and it has been supporting them as part of efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq and Syria. In recent years, the UAE has led efforts to counter the Iranian influence in Iraq by bolstering ties with Baghdad. Saudi Arabia has been following the same approach, and recent efforts to rebalance the oil market were an opportunity for closer Saudi-Iraqi cooperation.

The Gulf countries learned their lesson from letting Iran extend its influence in Iraq and Syria until it had penetrated into Yemen. They are determined not to let Turkey repeat that example, particularly as Turkey is also using the Muslim Brotherhood and its terrorist offshoots as a lever in the region. For the UAE, countering Turkish expansionism is at the heart of its fight against terrorism.

In the past, Turkey exploited its relations with Saudi Arabia as a cover for its expansionist intentions, until these relations became strained more than a year ago. Business and trade relations worth tens of billions of dollars between Turkey and the Gulf countries are now declining due to policy differences.

After invading parts of northwestern Syria, Turkey has now embarked on wide-ranging attacks on other Arab countries. Many Western analysts see this as a manifestation of internal troubles facing the ruling party led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after almost all his allies deserted him.

Executive Director of the Middle East Centre for Reporting and Analysis, a Western think tank, Seth J Frantzman, has been quoted as saying that “Ankara’s latest attacks on Iraq, driven by its ruling party, are yet another militarist adventure by a ruling party that appears to need to carry out a new military operation every month as part of a trend that combines demagoguery at home and invasions abroad.”

Last year, Turkey threatened to invade eastern Syria, telling Washington it would begin bombing the region until the Trump administration appeased Ankara and withdrew US troops from the area.

After its October offensive in Syria in which some 200,000 people were forced to flee their homes, Ankara signed a deal with the militia-backed government in the Libyan capital Tripoli to help it fight against the Libyan National Army and secure Turkey’s energy demands in the Mediterranean.

Turkey started shipping thousands of Syrian mercenaries to Libya to fight on behalf of the Tripoli government and sent drones and arms to establish a foothold there.

In December and January, it stoked tensions with Russia and the Syrian regime in Idlib in northwest Syria. It then threatened to send Syrian refugees to Europe during the crises of February and March.

In April and May, it returned to focus on the fighting in Libya, while at the same time increasing its airstrikes on Iraq and starting a full offensive on 17 June.

The Gulf countries are becoming increasingly concerned by Turkey’s military interventions abroad, since it has also been trying to intervene in Yemen, relying on its relations with Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in Yemen and its presence in Somalia through relations with the Al-Shabab terrorist group.

As a result, the Gulf countries’ backing of Iraq in the face of Turkish aggression is also a strategic stand against Turkish expansionism elsewhere in the region.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsCon...lAhram-Weekly/World/The-Gulf-backs-Iraq-.aspx

good if there is war .

 

[-SINAN-]

It's just vocal backing

Like giving thumbs up on pdf

It’s not backing Iraq rather the Kurds

Bring your troops all the way to Turkish border, build bases/posts, secure the whole border and KRG region.

So, we won't need to pay for all these bases and operations.

 

[925boy]

Turkish armed forces doing Iraqs work.
View attachment 648928

Yes, but just remember Iraq didnt ask you to do it, just like UN didnt ask Turkey to defend the UN-backed govt in Libya. just sayin...

 

[Saddam Hussein]

Bring your troops all the way to Turkish border, build bases/posts, secure the whole border and KRG region.

So, we won't need to pay for all these bases and operations.

The recent offensive gave Baghdad the excuse to deploy border guards into KRG lands, they're working with Turkey's authorities on securing the border. However these border guards aren't army, they're small numbers and not heavily armed.

because the KRG doesn't feel safe with letting the army inside their borders, yet they don't want to secure the mountains and borders. Don't know what they want.

 

[925boy]

Meanwhile Israel moves to annex Palestine.

True...

With the exception of Turkeye, all these middle east govts are hypocrite.

HUUUH??? Please tell us what Turkey has done for Palestine recently that other not-so-helpful countries havent done. This same Turkey that just established full RELATIONS with Israel cuz daddy US asked Turkey to? Turkey hasnt done crap or said crap against Israel recently so i believe this is false, you're just a Turkey lover, which is ok, but pls state the truth.

Foreigners use them and dispose them at their will.

ha ha ...but Arabs didnt use them an abuse them by ignoring their fellow ARab brethren?

So sad that our middle eastern Muslim brothers have to live under such regimes.

yea yea...well Pakistan can do something...at least you have a nuke, and good military but you wont, cuz of Saudi and US money and imports, and remittances! Oh well!!

 

[Muhammed45]

yes they invited them

Stop lying man. They paid for invasion on Iraq

 

[-SINAN-]

The recent offensive gave Baghdad the excuse to deploy border guards into KRG lands, they're working with Turkey's authorities on securing the border. However these border guards aren't army, they're small numbers and not heavily armed.

because the KRG doesn't feel safe with letting the army inside their borders, yet they don't want to secure the mountains and borders. Don't know what they want.

Peshmerga should be disbanded, Iraqi army should have full authority over all of Iraq.

 

[American Pakistani]

True...


HUUUH??? Please tell us what Turkey has done for Palestine recently that other not-so-helpful countries havent done. This same Turkey that just established full RELATIONS with Israel cuz daddy US asked Turkey to? Turkey hasnt done crap or said crap against Israel recently so i believe this is false, you're just a Turkey lover, which is ok, but pls state the truth.

ha ha ...but Arabs didnt use them an abuse them by ignoring their fellow ARab brethren?

yea yea...well Pakistan can do something...at least you have a nuke, and good military but you wont, cuz of Saudi and US money and imports, and remittances! Oh well!!

Honestly I'm not a fan of ANY Pakistani govt and in fact a critic. But Pakistani govts are way better compared to any middle eastern regimes. (exception of Turkeye).

Be it Arabs or Iranians all have been used and disposed by foreigners and all have been made to fight each other. The fools keep wasting precious God gifted resources just to pull each other's leg and keep their populations in severe miseries.

 

[Salmanov]

Bring your troops all the way to Turkish border, build bases/posts, secure the whole border and KRG region.

So, we won't need to pay for all these bases and operations.

First we need an independent nationalist government that is willing to change the shitty constitution of 2005

 

[Oublious]

Peshmerga should be disbanded, Iraqi army should have full authority over all of Iraq.

The fact is they couldn't and still they are not capable. Back in the time of Saddam only way the have managed for some time was chemical attack but that made ambargo against them. So please forget that they will ever manage the north of Iraq.

 

[Saddam Hussein]

The fact is they couldn't and still they are not capable. Back in the time of Saddam only way the have managed for some time was chemical attack but that made ambargo against them. So please forget that they will ever manage the north of Iraq.

I think it's more the lack of will to do so, not capability. The people aren't interested either in the far north, they're drowning in so many problems that they do not care.

 

[Oublious]

I think it's more the lack of will to do so, not capability. The people aren't interested either in the far north, they're drowning in so many problems that they do not care.

It is really a big problem for us when is was a kid back begin of the nineties, i could not forget how many time we made operations in Iraq. Still the day we must do it, Iraqs problems are to big. I hope one day they fix it.

 

[Naram_Sin]

As far as the majority of Iraqi people are concerned, north iraq ends in mosul, I wish more is done to secure mosul from both kurdish and turkish interference.

The beshmerka are not willing to face turkey, not willing to face Iran, who exactly is this force, written in the constitution, is supposed to fight... ?

 

[Salmanov]

As far as the majority of Iraqi people are concerned, north iraq ends in mosul, I wish more is done to secure mosul from both kurdish and turkish interference.

The beshmerka are not willing to face turkey, not willing to face Iran, who exactly is this force, written in the constitution, is supposed to fight... ?

The funny thing these fkers say they are occupied by Iraq since 1920 and yet they want the Iraqi army to defend them the same army they fought against for almost 80 years

 

[bsruzm]

The fact is they couldn't and still they are not capable. Back in the time of Saddam only way the have managed for some time was chemical attack but that made ambargo against them. So please forget that they will ever manage the north of Iraq.

The same sh*t over and over...