Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been eager to boost military sales to foreign buyers, but his foreign policy often snags his ambitions. International interest in Turkey’s flourishing defense industry has risen since the Azerbaijani-Armenian war over Nagorno-Karabakh last year, in which the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 armed drones were widely touted as key to Azerbaijan’s military success. Most recently, Iraq has expressed interest in buying TB2 drones and attack helicopters from Turkey, but Baghdad’s efforts to attach strings to the deal has thrown a spanner in the works.

Iraqi Defense Minister Juma Inad revealed in late August that Baghdad had reached a preliminary understanding with Ankara to buy an unspecified number of TB2 drones and had also asked for offers for 12 T129 ATAK helicopters and six KORAL electronic warfare systems. The minister spoke after meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar at an international defense industry fair in Istanbul earlier in August. 

It was exciting news for Turkey that Iraq, often squeezed between the United States and Iran, was turning to Turkey for military equipment. Iraq needs such weapons to fight the resurging Islamic State and beef up its defense capabilities as Washington prepares to end its combat mission in Iraq.

A Turkish source familiar with the talks told Al-Monitor that the Iraqis had first expressed interest in buying Turkish weapons during Akar’s January visit to Baghdad, but brought other dossiers to the negotiating table in ensuing meetings. In return for military purchases, the Iraqis asked for an increase in the flow rates in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, which originate in Turkey and flow down to Syria and Iraq, and the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the Bashiqa base near Mosul, according to the source.