Iraqi Parliamentarian Mıhemed Osman said: “Turkey’s military force didn’t come to Iraq in the framework of the Iraqi constitution. They came by the request of one party and one person. Any forces outside the bounds of the Iraqi constitution are invasion forces. PKK is here in a constitutional basis.”

Iraqi Parliamentarian Mıhemed Osman spoke to ANF about the parliamentary decision to remove Turkish soldiers from Bashika and PKK’s presence in Iraq.

Did the Turkish forces enter Iraqi territory without permission from the Iraqi government? What does their presence here mean?

Turkey stationed their soldiers in Iraqi territory without explanation, and without permission. We have said several times that the Turkish state is violating national and international laws. When Turkey didn’t take note, we as the Iraqi Parliament took this parliamentary decision to remove Turkish soldiers from Iraqi territory at once. To this end, we asked United Nations to intervene for Turkey to retract their soldiers. The presence of Turkish soldiers in Iraqi soil creates a problem on the Iraqi territorial integrity. If Turkey has a problem, they should handle it in their own territory.

There are powers that proposed to remove the PKK from Iraqi territory as well. How correct is this?

The PKK guerrillas are a force that have been officially invited by the Iraqi government. PKK guerrillas have been fighting against ISIS along with Iraqi defense forces and the peshmerga. They are a movement that has played an important role in the fight against ISIS and has been a mediator between peoples. They have paid a great price to save the people. They have martyrs and wounded members. For us this is a very honorable approach. Thus, we always feel indebted to the PKK.

Those who see the PKK as a foreign external power are wrong. PKK is a movement that helps the peoples of Southern Kurdistan and Iraq. They can stay in Iraqi territory until the Iraqi government decides otherwise.

The Peshmerga and the International Coalition Forces have made comments that Turkey shouldn’t join the Mosul operation. But Turkey insists on this matter. What do you think?

The International Coalition Forces made a statement too. They said Turkey wasn’t among the coalition forces in the fight against ISIS in Iraq. We will consider all powers that wish to forcibly join this operation to be invading powers. These invading powers must know, they cannot win. The common demand of the Iraqi government, the coalition forces and the peshmerga forces is that Turkey return to their own territory.

Turkey says they came as per Barzani’s remarks.

Kurdistan is Turkey’s neighbor. They have had friendly relations with Kurdistan Regional Government for years. If Barzani wants that, he must do it not in his own name, but according to the Iraqi and Kurdistan regional constitutions and with approval from the government. Any relations and agreements outside of this is unconstitutional and illegal. We don’t accept this.

Turkey came on the call of Barzani. Turkey accept this. When PKK was defending Shengal, the other forces weren’t there. How dare we say, “PKK should leave Shengal”? PKK heroically fought against ISIS in Shengal.

We as the PUK weren’t aware that the Turkish soldiers had entered Iraqi territory. We announce this through you to all of Kurdistan people now. We as the Patriots Union group have declared our position in the parliament on this matter and we supported this vote fully. We also stand behind the decision in the parliament. Turkey must retract their soldiers from Iraqi soil to within their own territory.