Turkey Urges Anti-ISIL Coalition to Bolster Support for Kurdish Troops

Turkey has called on members of the US-led anti-ISIL coalition to step up their support for Kurdish militias in northern Iraq, known as the Peshmerga, in their fight against extremists, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) – Cavusoglu also stressed the importance of increasing the support given to national security forces, currently undergoing training in Mosul, Iraq.

"Volunteers are fighting against the IS [Islamic State], which currently controls 30 percent of the Iraqi territory. We need to boost aid to the Iraqi government and the Peshmerga forces. The member states of the coalition have continuously supported Iraq, but it is still insufficient."

Peshmerga forces have been involved in violent clashes with the Islamic State since August 2014. They have liberated approximately 95 percent of the Kurdish territories within Iraq that were once held by the jihadists, according to a statement by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Meanwhile, the Peshmerga have long complained that they have not received their fair share of weapons from the Iraqi government.

In March 2015, US Congress introduced a new bill that would allow for Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to be armed directly by the coalition. The move was strongly opposed by the Iraqi government.