TEHRAN (Basirat)- Alarmed by US plans to redraw the borders of the Middle East, Turkey's activities in Iraq, and willingness to align forces with Russia and the Syria government, are an effort to prevent Washington from realizing its ambitions, former Turkish air force commander Erdogan Karakus told Sputnik Turkiye.
Alarmed by US plans to redraw the borders of the Middle East, Turkey's activities in Iraq, and willingness to align forces with Russia and the Syria government, are an effort to prevent Washington from realizing its ambitions, former Turkish air force commander Erdogan Karakus told Sputnik Turkiye.
Turkey's recent military deployment to its borders with Iraq and
Syria is an effort to protect Turkey's national interests and resist US
plans to redraw the Middle East, former Turkish air force commander
Erdogan Karakus told Sputnik Turkiye.
On August 24, Turkey launched its "Euphrates Shield" operation in Syria,
and began to deploy infantry and dozens of tanks across the border to
assist units of the FSA in an offensive against Daesh at Jarabulus.
The operation also aims to contain the expansion of US-backed
Kurdish militia in northern Syria, following the success of the
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in liberating Manbij from Daesh
terrorists.
On Tuesday Turkey began to deploy tanks and armored vehicles to the town
of Silopi near the Iraqi border, in response to the involvement of
militia groups including the Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and
Kurdish Peshmerga in the ongoing operation to liberate Mosul from the
Daesh terror group.
Turkey's requests for its own military involvement in the Iraqi-led,
US-backed operation to liberate Mosul have been rebuffed by the Iraqi
government.
Former Turkish Air Force Commander Erdogan Karakus told Sputnik
Turkiye that Turkey's preparation for deployment in Iraq is an unwelcome
development for the US and its plans to redraw the borders of the
Middle East.
"The US is trying to implement its project in the Middle East, called
'Greater Middle East,' and it's trying to use the Iraqi government to
carry out this aim. However, Turkey's actions in Iraq are interfering
with the US attempt to establish sole control over the whole of Iraq,"
Karakus said.
"Washington understands that the current Iraqi government is weak,
and is trying to exploit that to realize its Greater Middle East
project, which involves the complete re-formatting of the region."
"The Kurdish territory of Iraq is practically under the control of the
US. The Iraqi government is seeking to capture Mosul without the
involvement of the Turkish military. If that happens, then Iraq will be
under US control, which will lead to its split," Karakus warned.The former commander said that Ankara and Moscow are sure to have
shared their concerns about the US plan, as demonstrated by the recent
visit of Turkey's Chief of General Staff General Hulusi Akar to Moscow
for a meeting with his Russian counterpart General Valery Gerasimov.
Turkey's operation in Syria intends to liberate Syrian territory
from the Daesh terrorist group as far as the city of al-Bab, but Ankara
has no intention of entering Aleppo, Karakus said.
"I am sure that Ankara will very soon come to agreement with Damascus,
and a joint operation to liberation Syria's Raqqa from the terror group
can be expected soon, because there is no way that Raqqa can be left to
the Americans."
"At the moment Turkey is trying to agree with Russia, and with the
support of Russian armed forces and those of the Syrian government, to
carry out an operation to liberate Raqqa. This scenario would preserve
the integrity of Syria and allow the Syrian government to control large
areas of territory. In turn, this will be a blow to the US Greater
Middle East project."
The commander said that Turkey is keen to negotiate with Russia and
Syria in the knowledge that only a coordination of their forces can
prevent the US project to carve up the Middle East.
Otherwise, if Ankara isn't able to agree with Moscow and Damascus,
it will suffer great losses. Turkey has begun to understand that and is
obviously making every effort to join forces with the Russian and Syrian
forces," Karakus said.