Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi

Reports state that on Friday Turkey sent soldiers to northern Iraq. The Turkish forces, deployed near the city of Mosul, are purportedly there to train the Peshmerga.

The Turkish Prime Minister said that the presence of Turkish troops had been approved by the Iraqi government, but the Iraqi government disagrees.

According to the Washington Times, In the last 48 hours, Turkey has sent hundreds of troops and at least 20 tanks into northern Iraqi territory north of Mosul, which is occupied by the Islamic State.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued a statement recently on the incursion, and it has been confirmed to us that Turkish troops numbering around one regiment armored with tanks and artillery entered the Iraqi territory. Also, there are specifical claims in the province of Nineveh claim that Iraqi groups are being trained without the request or authorization from the Iraqi federal authorities and this is considered a serious breach of Iraqi sovereignty and does not conform with the good neighborly relations between Iraq and Turkey.

The Iraqi authorities call on Turkey to respect good neighborly relations and to withdraw immediately from the Iraqi territory.

Obviously there are conflicting agendas by all players involved in the conflict in Iraq and Syria. Many analysts have suggested that Turkey is attempting to protect oil pipelines siphoning oil produced in the region and smuggling it into Turkey. It seems a given that Turkey, a NATO member, does not have the best interests of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at heart.

It seems probable that Iraq will use this incursion into their country as a pretext to ask Russia to assist them in protecting their borders against the Turks, and to stop smuggling of oil by ISIS into Turkey.

We live in interesting times.