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Ankara Ready to Share Military Knowledge With Iraq, Says Turkish Defence Minister

© AP PhotoIn this photo taken Friday, 19 June 2020, Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar, centre, wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey. The Turkish army's operation continues after it said on Wednesday that it had airlifted troops for a cross-border ground operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.
In this photo taken Friday, 19 June 2020, Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar, centre, wearing a face mask to protect against coronavirus, visits Turkish troops at the border with Iraq, in Hakkari province, Turkey. The Turkish army's operation continues after it said on Wednesday that it had airlifted troops for a cross-border ground operation against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. - Sputnik International, 1920, 11.02.2021
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday that Ankara was ready to enhance Iraq's military capabilities by sharing its knowledge and experience as a NATO member.

During his speech in the north-eastern province of Kars, where a joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military drill is taking place, the minister also boasted that, since 2016, Turkish border operations had prevented the creation of a corridor by terrorist groups in northern Syria.

Turkish Army tank stands ready near the village of Bamarni in northern Iraq, 30km beyond the Turkey-Iraq border - Sputnik International, 1920, 28.06.2020
Kurdish Militia Groups Say Turkey Establishing Military Bases in Northern Iraq, Reports Claim

Akar stressed that without Turkish forces protecting the locals from the alleged threat of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the refugee flow would have been "considerable", the official Anadolu news agency reports him as saying.

The PKK is a Kurdish left-wing militant and political group based in Turkey and Iraq — the former considers the PKK a terrorist organisation. The Democratic Union Party (PYD) is a Kurdish democratic confederalist political party established in Syria, considered one of the most important Kurdish opposition parties in the country and the YPG is its military wing.

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