Pro-government columnist Abdülkadir Selvi claims Turkey will conduct an operation in Iraq

Turkish forces have been stationed in Bashiqa camp near Mosul in the north of Iraq.

Abdülkadir Selvi, pro-Justice and Development Party (AKP) journalist and columnist from daily Hürriyet, talked to a TV broadcast and claimed that an operation will be conducted in Iraq like the ongoing Turkey-led ‘Euphrates Shield’ operation in Syria.

“We may witness some interventions like Euphrates Shield operation in Syria against the terrorist organization in Iraq in March or April, Selvi noted.

Detailing his views, Selvi continued, “Indeed, we are acting with very limited information on this subject. I do not want to raise this subject too much. However, we want to stop terror out of our borders within the context of preventive terror while operations are going on against PKK’s [the Kurdistan Workers’ Party] suicide bomb vehicles within the borders in current winter conditions. Operations against the organization will continue at home, on the other hand, it is apparent that some cross-border operations are being conducted.”

Abdülkadir Selvi is known as a strong advocate of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AKP within the Turkish media, which enables him to gather information from the ruling party and government circles.

Turkish forces have been stationed in Bashiqa since before a recent offensive against Islamic State in northern Iraq.

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on January 7 an agreement had been reached with Turkey over an Iraqi demand that Turkish forces withdraw from the Bashiqa camp, Iraqi state TV reported. However, a joint communique issued after Abadi met his Turkish counterpart Binali Yıldırım in Baghdad did not refer to any such deal, but said both sides stressed that Bashiqa was an Iraqi camp.