As the battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State gathers speed, the ongoing row between Baghdad and Ankara over the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq shows no signs of abating. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to insist that Turkey has a “historic responsibility” to participate in the offensive and that it will do so whether Iraq wants it to or not.
Erdogan's blustering is prompting growing concern in Baghdad — and in Washington — of unilateral Turkish action in its former Ottoman dominion that could derail the Mosul campaign.
