American-Kurdish-Turkish Summit for Coordination against ISIS

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) - Chief of Staff of the KRG Presidency, Dr. Fuad Hussein said on Sunday that a summit meeting of the United States, Kurdistan Region and Turkey will be held later this month.

Hussein, in a press statement, said the meeting will be aimed at coordination between Washington, Erbil, and Ankara in the war against the Islamic State (IS), and pointed out that the Iraqi government in Baghdad is aware of the meeting that is to be held in Kurdistan.

Hussein noted that the battle for retaking Mosul, currently under the control of IS, requires a good study, stressing the need to help Iraqi government forces in this fight. He added, "The Iraqi army is still not militarily ready for battle."

Hussein also spoke about ending the battle for Ramadi, in Anbar Province, and that some components of the Iraqi army will be prepared to retake Mosul with the assistance of Peshmerga and US-led international coalition forces.

It is also noteworthy that the Iraqi government recently demanded that Turkey respect bilateral relations by immediately withdrawing its forces that entered Bashiqa, last Thursday a move that was requested by federal Iraqi authorities.

It was reported that 150 Turkish troops and 25 tanks have been deployed to Bashiqa, which is north of Mosul.

The spokesman of the Nineveh Popular Mobilization Forces, Mahmoud Surchi also announced the recent arrival of Turkish troops equipped with heavy weapons to Zalkan camp, near Bashiqa.