Ankara: The Turkish military has deployed tanks and artillery to southeastern districts near the Iraqi border, military sources said Tuesday.
The 30-vehicle convoy left Ankara for Silopi, the sources said, adding that it was now close to Adana province in southern Turkey.
The deployment came as Iraq said its forces had entered terrorist-held Mosul for the first time since the Daesh terror group overran the city more than two years ago.
Ankara has repeatedly insisted that it would be involved in the offensive in northern Iraq and would be “at the table”.
Defence Minister Fikri Isik said Tuesday’s deployment was a part of Turkey’s preparation for “important developments in the region”, referring to Kurdish rebels inside the country and events in Iraq.
“Turkey is preparing in advance for whatever happens (and) this is one element of that,” he said, quoted by the official news agency Anadolu.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984, with almost daily attacks against Turkish security forces in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
Isik added that there was a “serious fight against terror” inside Turkey, a reference to Daesh terrorists and the PKK.
Last month, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim claimed Turkish artillery hit Daesh positions in Bashiqa, northern Iraq.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Saturday indicated that Turkey wanted to reinforce its security forces already in Silopi in Sirnak province.
There have been clashes between the Turkish army and Kurdish militants in Silopi while its residents have been subject to curfews earlier this year. The district is also close to PKK bases in the Qandil mountains in northern Iraq.
Erdogan also warned Shiite militias in Iraq against attacking Turkmen residents of Tal Afar, a town near Mosul after the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force launched an offensive at the weekend.
Baghdad has protested Turkey’s presence on Iraqi territory as a violation of its sovereignty, but Ankara has brushed off the complaints.
