Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

The Price of Turkish Posturing in Iraq

The Price of Turkish Posturing in Iraq

As Iraqi Army forces enter Mosul proper and anti-ISIS coalition forces encircle the city, the complex and bloody operation to safely wrest a city of approximately one million people from the grip of ISIS militants will continue to dominate headlines. However, for the region’s power players, the question of what comes after Mosul’s fall may be more important than the conduct of the campaign itself.

Indeed, that question seems to have driven relations between Turkey and Iraq to the breaking point. Over the past month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi have engaged in a swiftly escalating war of words over the presence of Turkish troops at the Bashiqa airbase in northern Iraq. From Abadi’s claim that the base is an unsanctioned violation of Iraqi territory, to Erdogan’s assertion that the Iraqi Prime Minister should “know his place,” angry rhetoric has led to real world escalation. Turkish units based at Bashiqa have already participated in the operation to retake Mosul – against Iraqi wishes – and, on Tuesday, Turkish tanks and troops were seen massing at the border town of Silopi.  This led Abadi to warn that “the invasion of Iraq will lead to Turkey being dismantled.”

Keep reading...Show less
Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Related Articles

Expert Q&A: Putin Overplayed His Hand with Trump on Ukraine

EXPERT Q&A — President Donald Trump has offered a strong hand of support to Ukraine in recent days, pledging new weapons and threatening Russia with [...] More

Report for Thursday, July 17, 2025

9:03 America/New_York Thursday, July 17 [...] More

A Nuclear Day of the Jackal

BOOK REVIEW: The Moldavian GambitBy Brad Meslin / Manhattan Book GroupReviewed by: James LawlerThe Reviewer — James Lawler devoted more than half of [...] More

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

Ukraine’s Defense may Hinge on Offensive Operations

CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – Russia has been bombarding Ukrainian cities with massive aerial assaults, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged [...] More

Report for Wednesday, July 16, 2025

8:45 AM America/New_York Wednesday, July 16 [...] More

China Can Do More to Improve Relations with the U.S.

OPINION — Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at the ASEAN Summit. Rubio described the [...] More

Report for Tuesday, July 15, 2025

8:57 AM America/New_York Tuesday, July 15 [...] More

How the Danes See NATO, Trump and Ukraine

OPINION — “The most important part right now is that Europe would be able to buy military equipment here in the U.S. so we can donate these military [...] More

The China Challenge – Some Fresh, Some Familiar Insights

BOOK REVIEW: LESSONS FROM THE NEW COLD WAR: AMERICA CONFRONTS THE CHINA CHALLENGEBy Hal Brands (Editor) /Johns Hopkins University PressReviewed by: [...] More