File image.
The leader of Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada’ (KSS), Abu Alaa al-Walaei, on April 16 described a large Turkish military camp in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh as “another Idlib in Iraq,” threatening to move toward it if the government did not do so.
Al-Walaei was referring to the northern Syrian province of Idlib, where Islamist forces loyal to Turkey amassed for years before launching a large-scale offensive late last November. The lighting offensive brought down early in December the regime of former president Bashar al-Assad, who was an ally of Iran, just like the KSS and other armed factions within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)
In a statement, Al-Walaei, a member of the ruling Coordination Framework coalition, said that “the occupied Zlikan base in Mosul is like another Idlib in Iraq for the Turks, where training, espionage, and wiretapping of all Iraqi administrative, security, and military units are constantly taking place, posing a serious security threat to Iraq and its sovereignty.”
“We await the necessary action in this regard through the relevant state authorities, before the proud Iraqis are forced to silence this threat,” the leader warned.
Turkey began establishing Camp Zlikan in the Bashiqa district of Nineveh, some 35 kilometers to the northeast of Mosul in 2014 without the approval of the Iraqi government. The camp, which can accommodate some 4,000 troops, was first used to train local forces against ISIS. However, it later became a hub for Turkish military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its allies.
Between 2021 and 2023, dozens of rocket and drone attacks targeted the camp, with some blamed on the PKK and others on Iran-backed factions. Still, Ankara refused to abandon it.
The threats from KSS were accompanied by similar statements from other factions from the PMF, most notably from Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), which accused Turkey of “supporting ISIS groups.”
Hassan Faddam, a prominent member of AAH, recently stated that “Turkey attempted to build relations with the local governments in Mosul and Kirkuk. Turkish intelligence established relationships with military leaders and local administrations in Mosul and Kirkuk, and supported ISIS gangs in Mosul.” He went on to claim that “many wounded ISIS fighters were receiving treatment in Turkey.
The escalation by PMF factions came after an Iraqi delegation, including ministers and security officials, concluded a series of meetings in Ankara, reportedly reaching security understandings between the two countries.
Earlier in the week, Iraqi media reported that the Turkish military evacuated the eastern section of Zlikan in preparation to further expand the camp.
The worries voiced by al-Walaei are very realistic, as Turkey’s recent success in Syria could encourage it to attempt to replicate the scenario in Iraq.
While Iran has always worked to maintain excellent relations with Turkey, the blow Turkey dealt to Tehran’s allies in Syria may have forced the Islamic Republic to rethink its cautious approach before losing more allies to Ankara. The mounting tensions in Iraq could quickly develop into a full-on confrontation between the two sides.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
turkey is like a wolf who senses a meal when it sees a power vacuum
like the rest of them…. what this mollahs terrorists group do in that area anyway?
indeed: what part of neo-ottomanism didn’t they understand?
sadly the iraqi government is too weak to stand up to almost any challenge, as the 2014 daesh invasion and subsequent restoration of us military presence in 2016 showed. maybe the country needs “another saddam” (very loosely speaking, hopefully a better leader).
you can always put your name down as a next leader 😏
the idlib problem in syria started when the russians trusted erdogan and allowed thousands of terrorists to settle there, now the head choppers are ruling syria, or the part israel allows them to rule, and the turks need to be dealt with or they will continue.
i just said that couple of articles ago.
that is the question but how and who’s gonna deal with mighty turkish army .maybe you ?
the turks and israel seem comfortable with each other. probably, turkey doesn’t mind israel as long as they can help them expand their territory.
dirty erdogan and his silamic brotherhood read:wahhabi demonic destroyer of religions and worlds. so why in the first place they wouldn’t work for them, as they are mi6, and very probably mossads creation. in the second place if it ever was a good idea, zioshit turn it to ver, very bad one.
not at all, syrian mercenaries who worked hand in glove with the israeli war machine against syria, turkey libya, tunisia, sudan and mercenaries fighting al-assad have just signed an agreement with the english government by 2026 uk and with syrian al qaeda terrorists have signed a peace agreement with israel!
continued so palestinians can be forced militarily into syria by force, along with the military idf forces into syrian areas taken by american english and israeli forces! egypt, turkey and israel working in cohesion with israel will see the butchery done! to further weaken the strategic alliance lebanon with iran, iraqis are going to forfeit the very last vestiges of freedom and democracy! oooh how the people of the world detest unelected american dictatorships!
one wonders if the israel project promised the syrian oil fields to turkey for a cut . iraq has possible supply lines to feed resistance of israel . the back alley deals make the fog great .
i suspect so, plus a new pipeline through syria to turkey as the wheel hub has them seeing gold bars in their eyes in anticipation of the new revenue stream. the grand lodges in each territory make sure it will happen: no matter how much death and suffering it takes.