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Iraq Reveals Presence of Five Turkish Military Bases on its Soil

A view of the site of a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk, Iraq, July 20, 2022. (Reuters)
A view of the site of a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk, Iraq, July 20, 2022. (Reuters)
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Iraq Reveals Presence of Five Turkish Military Bases on its Soil

A view of the site of a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk, Iraq, July 20, 2022. (Reuters)
A view of the site of a Turkish attack on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk, Iraq, July 20, 2022. (Reuters)

Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army Abdel Emir Yarallah on Saturday exposed the extent of Turkey's military presence in Iraq, revealing that it is operating five bases in the country.

Speaking at a special parliamentary session in wake of last week's Turkish strike on the northern Dohuk province, in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, Yarallah said: “The bases include more than 4,000 Turkish fighters.”

Moreover, he said Turkey has increased its incursions in Iraq.

He noted that its military boasted 40 positions in Iraq in 2021 and the figure has since risen to 100 at just short distances from the Zakho, Amadiya, and Dohuk regions.

Yarallah renewed calls to “send forces from the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga to these areas to take back vacant border lands to prevent the Turks from advancing or deploying artillery and make them turn back to their territories.”

Iraq's caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi received on Monday the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

According to a readout issued by his bureau, Kadhimi said his government proceeded with the necessary protocols to bring up the Turkish bombing of a resort in Dohuk's Zakho before the Security Council.

“The Prime Minister called upon the UN and the international community to consider the Iraqi account of the situation,” said the statement.

For her part, Hennis-Plasschaert pledged to report the attack in a session the UN Security Council will call in to discuss this issue.

“Iraq mobilized all efforts, in agreement with its partners, to condemn the Turkish attacks,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahaf told Asharq al-Awsat.

The Security Council condemned in the strongest terms on Monday the Dohuk attack.

It reiterated support for the independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, democratic process and prosperity of Iraq.

On Sunday, the Iraqi government sent a letter to the Security Council, saying Baghdad documented more than 22,740 violations committed by the Turkish armed forces.

Baghdad's letter included a demand for an apology from Ankara to Iraq and its people.

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Arab World

G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
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G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

Foreign ministers from the world’s industrialized countries said Tuesday they strongly supported an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and insisted that Israel comply with international law in its ongoing military operations in the region.

At the end of their two-day summit, the ministers didn’t refer directly to the International Criminal Court and its recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over crimes against humanity.

Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official meeting agenda, even though the G7 was split on the issue. The US, Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a signatory to the court and has called the warrants “outrageous.”

However, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said all the other G7 countries were signatories and therefore obliged to respect the warrants.

In the end, the final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel, in exercising its right to defend itself, “must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including international humanitarian law.”

And it said all G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.” It stressed that “there can be no equivalence between the terrorist group Hamas and the State of Israel.”

The ICC warrants say there's reason to believe Netanyahu used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.