Turkey strikes PKK targets in northern Iraq

Lingering tensions between Russia and Turkey over Ankara’s shooting down of a Russian fighter jet along the Syrian-Turkish border last month were evident Tuesday as Moscow’s United Nations envoy lashed out at Ankara over its recent troop deployment to northern Iraq.

Iraq’s foreign ministry said Turkish forces had entered Iraqi territory without the knowledge of Baghdad, who view their presence as a “hostile act”.

There are already some 3,500 US troops in Iraq on a training and support mission to help Iraqi forces battle the IS group.

He said Turkey is talking “to our friends” and trying to settle the issue, so “let’s give time to this process which is the first, best and utmost way to solve this”.

McCain and fellow hawk Senator Lindsey Graham have both been calling for a tripling in the current number of USA troops deployed in Iraq to 10,000, and also advocate sending an equal number of troops to Syria to fight against the terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Iraq has strongly condemned the deployment, branding it as a blatant violation of its sovereignty.

Despite attempts at resolving differences, Turkey issued an advisory to its citizens December 9 to leave all areas of Iraq except Iraqi Kurdistan due to increased security risks.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says that Turkish troops had been stationed at a military base in northern Iraq at the request of Iraq’s leader since 2014, al-Jazeera reported on Wednesday.

Aljazeera says that the Iraqi foreign ministry called the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad on the mat, complaining about the incursion.

On Monday, the U.S.-led coalition said it had carried out 20 airstrikes in Iraq, six of which targeted IS units, weaponry and positions near Ramadi. Amiri, the head of the Badr brigade, and Naim Aboudi the spokesman for Asaib al-Haq, another Shiite militia, confirmed they expect to receive more supplies in the coming year and heavier weaponry. “By nature he dithers and is reluctant, but I honestly believe he missed his opportunity”, he said. “That’s why people there are so anxious”, he said.

“We are ready for talks and every kind of exchange of ideas with Russian Federation but will never allow anything to be dictated to us”, he said. “Everyone is working for their own gain, even members of his own party”. There are Sunni Arabs, Sunni Turkmens and Sunni Kurds?