Abadi too weak to fight terror groups: Turkish FM

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his French counterpart hold a press conference following their meeting in Ankara, in this October 24, 2016 photo. (AFP)

ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denounced Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi as “weak” on Wednesday, further escalating tensions after Baghdad warned Ankara about provoking a confrontation through deploying tanks near Iraq.

Abadi’s remarks were made on Tuesday after Turkey sent a 30-vehicle convoy including artillery to the southeastern district of Silopi, with the Iraqi leader warning that any Turkish “invasion” would prompt a fierce response.
The two countries traded barbs last month over Ankara’s military presence in Iraq’s north and its insistence on playing a role in the offensive to retake second city Mosul from Daesh extremists.
“If you have the strength, why did you surrender Mosul to terror organizations?
“If you are so strong, why has the PKK occupied your lands for years?” Cavusoglu jeered, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party which is waging an insurgency inside Turkey and has bases in northern Iraq.
“You cannot even fight against a terror organization, you are weak,” he said in televised comments.
More than a million civilians in Mosul are in grave danger and aid workers are “bracing for the worst,” a relief group said Wednesday, after Iraqi forces reached the city.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus on Wednesday suggested Ankara had sent in the convoy as a precautionary measure because of the “fires raging (there)... and this neighboring fire can spread to us.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was ready to take on more responsibility in the region even as it was facing threats from the ongoing volatility along its borders.
“Some people give us lessons, they say ‘do not get so involved in Iraq’... well, what are we going to do?” he asked in a speech in Istanbul.
“It is us that has a 350-kilometer (220-mile) border with Iraq.”
The future was far from clear in Mosul, Kirkuk, Tal Afar and Sinjar, he said.
“What happens next is unknown,” he added, saying Turkey was preparing to deal with any situation.
Ankara claims its artillery hit Daesh positions in Iraq during the Mosul operation but Baghdad denies any Turkish involvement and has called for Turkish troops training fighters near Mosul to be withdrawn.
Iraqi forces fought their way into the northern city that has been held by Daesh since June 2014 in the third week of the operation.
As the Turkish convoy moved in, Abadi said Iraq was “ready” for a confrontation with Ankara even though he insisted he did not want to go to war with Turkey.
In response, Cavusoglu said it was “not right to make flippant remarks,” accusing Iraq of trying to “play tough” with empty rhetoric.
Cavusoglu’s remarks were in stark contrast to those made during a visit to Doha on Tuesday in which he admitted Turkish troops’ presence in northern Iraq had created “unnecessary tension.”
Erdogan says Turkey has nearly 700 soldiers at the camp training fighters who will assist Kurdish peshmerga forces retake Mosul. Relations between the two neighbors soured on October 1 after the Turkish Parliament renewed a mandate for its troops to spend another year in Iraq and Syria.