Turkey and Iraq have reached an agreement in principle that could eventually allow a Turkish role in the campaign to retake Mosul from Islamic State, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday after talks with President Tayyip Erdogan. Iraq, meanwhile, views Turkish military moves on its territory with apprehension, and any agreement on Mosul would defuse a major source of tension between the neighbors. The United States was also raising the issue of a Turkish role in Mosul in its regular talks with Iraqi leadership. Even once questions about Mosul are resolved, the United States and Turkey still have major hurdles to overcome in their joint approach to battling Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The United States sees the Syrian Kurdish YPG as a useful ally in the fight against the jihadists.

Source: Egypt Independent October 21, 2016 16:18 UTC