SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Head of Iraq’s Fatih alliance Hadi Amiri said Turkey was planning to attack Mount Sinjar, calling on the federal government to take necessary measures to deter any aggression against Iraqi lands.
“There is confirmed intelligence that the Turkish army has the intention to attack Mount Sinjar,” said Amiri, who also leads the powerful Iran-backed Badr Organization militia.
Amiri called on the Turkish government to avoid “hostile practices” which will not serve the interests of Iraq and Turkey, according to Iraqi state news agency NINA.
“We expect the Turkish government to completely withdraw from Iraqi lands, whether from Bashiqa or from the border line which it has recently occupied,” he said in a statement.
The Iraqi militia commander called on the federal government to take “all necessary measures to deter any aggression against Iraqi lands, and the Iraqi armed forces, the Popular Mobilization Forces and the security services are able to defend Iraq’s soil”.
Turkish officials have threatened to carry out operations against groups affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Sinjar.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on January 22 that Turkey might hold a joint counter-terrorism operation with Iraq to oust PKK fighters from Sinjar.
“Turkey is always ready to carry out joint operations against PKK with Iraq but we cannot openly announce the date for such operations,” said Erdogan.
“We may come there overnight all of a sudden,” Erdogan added.
Turkey has conducted numerous ground and aerial cross-border offensives into the Kurdistan Region to attack PKK fighters, who maintains bases in the region.
