Erdogan not backing down on Turkish role in Mosul
Turkey’s demand seen as challenge to United States and Iran, as well as Iraq; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls Hillary Clinton a "political novice" for remarks on Syrian Kurds; ultranationalist group dominates Turkish security services.
Erdogan says Abadi "not at my level"
Iraqi Turkmen groups have escalated their calls for an independent province in the Tal Afar district west of Mosul, Wassim Bassem reports, in advance of the widely anticipated military campaign to remove Islamic State (IS) forces from the city.
The demand by some Turkmen groups coincides with similar calls by Christians and Yazidis for their own autonomous regions in Ninevah province.
Bassem reports, “All of these projects are based on religious or ethnic division, whether among Turkmens, Kurds, Arabs, Sunnis or Shiites. Some see these proposals as the solution to the sectarian, religious and ethnic diversity problems that have caused so much killing and displacement of minorities since the Islamic State (IS) took over the areas in June 2014. But others fear the proposals would further divide the country into regional fiefdoms, fending off peace and causing new conflicts for power and influence.”
