US's dubious role in the Middle East
The Bashiqa crisis between the Iraqi central government and Turkey is ongoing.
Getting involved in the problem, the U.S. has sided with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who recently said that Turkish soldiers deployed in the Bashiqa region must leave.
U.S. Department of State Spokesperson John Kirby said: "All of Iraq's neighbors need to respect Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Turkish forces that are deployed in Iraq are not there as part of the international coalition. We call on both governments to focus on their common enemy, our common enemy, which is Daish." When journalists reminded Kirby of the remarks of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about footage proving that Turkey and Iraq had originally agreed to collaborate and Abadi supported Turkey founding a base in Bashiqa, Kirby said he did not see the footage or the assessments, adding that Abadi clearly said in public that they were not invited.
So, did these soldiers, whose presence suddenly started to be seen as a problem by the Iraqi government, leak into the region while Baghdad was sleeping? As Kirby said, was the U.S. really not informed of Abadi's former call to Turkey?
Of course they were informed. Around 500 Turkish soldiers have been training Barzani's peshmerga forces, a legal and legitimate component in the country, in the Bashiqa camp for years, while others are deployed in various regions of Iraq for security concerns in accordance with international and bilateral agreements.
In other words, the Baghdad government called on Turkish soldiers to provide Iraq's security and enable them to govern Iraq. The U.S. is aware of it, too.
Iraqi Kurdistan also bears witness to the central government's call to Turkey since the Iraqi government cannot effectively control and rule the country and the state, which was dragged into chaos after U.S. occupation.
Besides, they do not just harm themselves. The wrong calculations made in Baghdad also influence us. Two global-scale terrorist groups that terrorize neighboring countries and the world are positioned in Iraqi territories. Qandil, the headquarters of the outlawed PKK, is also within the Iraqi borders. Iraq also constitutes a secure shelter for Daish. So, what is going to happen? They host terrorist groups in the country and urge the country they previously called on for help to evacuate the region, leaving terrorists alone without giving any guarantee. This does not make any sense.
What sovereign country in the world would contravene its existence and readily and voluntarily turn down the right of self-defense guaranteed by international treaties?
The U.S., which came to a region to which it has no borders from thousands of miles away without being invited on the grounds of protecting national security, must above all question the legitimacy of its own presence in the Middle East. Arbitrating between neighbors that have been living together for centuries is not the duty of the U.S., which is accountable for hundreds of thousands of casualties.
Getting involved in the problem, the U.S. has sided with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who recently said that Turkish soldiers deployed in the Bashiqa region must leave.
U.S. Department of State Spokesperson John Kirby said: "All of Iraq's neighbors need to respect Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Turkish forces that are deployed in Iraq are not there as part of the international coalition. We call on both governments to focus on their common enemy, our common enemy, which is Daish." When journalists reminded Kirby of the remarks of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about footage proving that Turkey and Iraq had originally agreed to collaborate and Abadi supported Turkey founding a base in Bashiqa, Kirby said he did not see the footage or the assessments, adding that Abadi clearly said in public that they were not invited.
So, did these soldiers, whose presence suddenly started to be seen as a problem by the Iraqi government, leak into the region while Baghdad was sleeping? As Kirby said, was the U.S. really not informed of Abadi's former call to Turkey?
Of course they were informed. Around 500 Turkish soldiers have been training Barzani's peshmerga forces, a legal and legitimate component in the country, in the Bashiqa camp for years, while others are deployed in various regions of Iraq for security concerns in accordance with international and bilateral agreements.
In other words, the Baghdad government called on Turkish soldiers to provide Iraq's security and enable them to govern Iraq. The U.S. is aware of it, too.
Iraqi Kurdistan also bears witness to the central government's call to Turkey since the Iraqi government cannot effectively control and rule the country and the state, which was dragged into chaos after U.S. occupation.
Besides, they do not just harm themselves. The wrong calculations made in Baghdad also influence us. Two global-scale terrorist groups that terrorize neighboring countries and the world are positioned in Iraqi territories. Qandil, the headquarters of the outlawed PKK, is also within the Iraqi borders. Iraq also constitutes a secure shelter for Daish. So, what is going to happen? They host terrorist groups in the country and urge the country they previously called on for help to evacuate the region, leaving terrorists alone without giving any guarantee. This does not make any sense.
What sovereign country in the world would contravene its existence and readily and voluntarily turn down the right of self-defense guaranteed by international treaties?
The U.S., which came to a region to which it has no borders from thousands of miles away without being invited on the grounds of protecting national security, must above all question the legitimacy of its own presence in the Middle East. Arbitrating between neighbors that have been living together for centuries is not the duty of the U.S., which is accountable for hundreds of thousands of casualties.