Turkey will support Iraq in an anticipated operation to retake Mosul from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz said after talks with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad on Wednesday.
“We are on the side of Iraq in an operation targeting [the recapture of] Mosul. We are ready to provide every kind of intelligence and logistical support to Iraq in its fight against terrorism,” state news agency Anadolu quoted Yılmaz as saying on its website during a joint news conference with Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi.
Mosul, which had a population of over 1 million people, was captured by ISIL in June and is the largest city in the groups self-declared caliphate, a stretch of territory that straddles the border between northern Iraq and eastern Syria.
An Iraqi and Kurdish military force of some 20,000 to 25,000 troops is being prepared to recapture Mosul from ISIL, most likely between April and May, US officials said last week. It is believed that Mosul is currently being held by 1,000 to 2,000 ISIL fighters.
Yılmaz, who arrived in Baghdad after two Turkish C-130 cargo planes delivered military equipment to Iraq on Tuesday, said Turkey will continue to provide military aid to the Iraqi security forces, as well as training and equipment to the Iraqi army and the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces.
He also said Turkey was ready to provide shelter for Mosul residents who might be forced to leave their homes after the anticipated campaign against ISIL gets under way.
“Turkey is ready to offer humanitarian aid to the Iraqis who may be displaced and set up [refugee] camps,” said Yılmaz.
The defense ministers trip took place against a backdrop of an ongoing Iraqi military operation to retake Tikrit from ISIL as part of a broader campaign designed to reclaim the northern provinces and cities that fell under the control of the radical militant group last year.
Yılmazs remarks came a day after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Ankara is ready to consider possible contributions to the campaign to retake Mosul. Speaking in Portugal on Tuesday, Davutoğlu said no new program is on the agenda with respect to the Mosul campaign but that Turkey is ready to consider what contributions Turkey would provide if they are requested.
The Turkish prime minister reiterated Turkeys resolve in confronting all terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, linking the security of its southern neighbors to the security of the country. The prime minister said Ankaras position regarding the violence in Syria and Iraq is based on "principle" and that his country stood firm against assaults by the Syrian regime as well as terrorist groups.
He also said that the Turkish military chief, defense minister and other officials are in "constant consultation" with member countries of the international coalition that was formed by the US to fight ISIL, saying that a stable Mosul free of sectarianism is a "historic and strategic mission" for Turkey.