Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Abadi: there would be no winner in the war of neighboring countries

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi stated that Baghdad doesn't want to wage war against Ankara, but they are prepared for it anyway. He said, “Occupation of Iraq would lead to split of Turkey.”

Iraqi Prime Minister held a press conference in Baghdad and spoke about the Mosul operation and Turkey's military dispatch to Silopi province of Şırnak on Iraqi-Turkish border.

Here are the highlights of his statements:

“We don't want to wage war against Turkey. However, we are prepared in case we come to that point. Turks would pay a great price. If a country fights against its neighbor, no party would win; both sides would end up losing.

“However, Turkish army would take a knock. We warn them once again. If Turkish army enters Iraq, we would fight against them and treat them as enemies.

“Turks say that there are many other countries in Iraq now. That is true. However, those countries came here upon our call, they don't fight in Iraqi territory. They sent military personnel and advisers in order to train our forces. They came here for fulfilling our logistic and equipment needs.”

Yesterday evening, Turkish Military Forces dispatched tanks and armored vehicles to Silopi on Iraqi-Turkish border.

Turkish Minister of Defence Fikri Işık spoke about the dispatch: “Turkey has to be prepared to any occasion. The recent dispatch is a part of those preparations. We are still in contact with Iraq. We have some limits and if anybody goes over those limits, Turkey would do the necessary. We don't want foreign forces to enter Iraq and make things even more complicated. Our step is not against the territorial integrity of Iraq.”