ANKARA
Turkey is ready to support the establishment of "national guards" in Iraq, Turkey's foreign minister said Thursday.
Mevlut Cavusoglu's remarks came during a live interview on a Turkish TV channel in Ankara.
"The establishment of national guards in Iraq is the (Iraqi) government's decision," said Cavusoglu. "We cannot say there is a regular army in Iraq," he added.
Iraqi army and Kurdish forces, in cooperation with local Shia and Sunni militias, plan to initiate a major offensive against Daesh in the coming weeks to retake control of Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul.
Cavusoglu said Turkey is ready to give any kind of support to Iraq and Syria, including Incirlik, to ensure their stability, but warned that the international community had "no comprehensive strategy for Iraq and Syria."
Incirlik is a logistics base under Turkish command near Adana in southern Turkey.
Turkey has been giving logistical and intelligence support to the Iraqi government in Baghdad in its operations against Daesh.
On Feb. 19, Turkey and the U.S. signed a deal to train-and-equip Syrian opposition forces with the aim of achieving an actual political transformation in the war-torn country on the basis of the Geneva Communique. The Syrian fighters trained in the joint program are expected to fight both Daesh and the Assad regime.
The foreign minister also said there "should not be" a new Sunni-Shia conflict in Iraq.
Iraq witnessed one of its worst periods of sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias in 2006 and 2007. Iraq has plunged into a security vacuum since June 2014, when Daesh stormed the northern province of Mosul and declared what it called a caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
Daesh massacres and the massive displacement of local people led to the creation of an international coalition against the terror group. The U.S.-led coalition has been staging airstrikes against Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria since mid-September 2014.
Three British runaway girls
"The person caught assisting three British girls into Syria is a spy from an international coalition country," Cavusoglu said.
British girls Shamima Begum, 15, Amira Abase, 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, went missing from East London in early February and reportedly arrived in Turkey to cross into Syria to join Daesh.
Turkey is often accused of not being able to control its more than 800-kilometer-long border with Syria, sometimes referred to as a “highway to terrorism.”
But Cavusoglu denied these allegations saying, "Turkey is doing its part."
The Turkish foreign minister also recently said that, since January, Ankara had deported 1,154 foreign fighters who were allegedly trying to join Daesh.
Allegations of supplying weapons to Libya
Regarding allegations that Turkey supplied weapons to Libya, Cavusoglu said, "Turkey has never supplied weapons to anybody, especially Libya."
Previously, the Tobruk-based Libyan government's prime minister, Abdullah al-Thani, alleged that Turkey was supplying weapons to militant groups in Libya.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected Thani's remarks as "misleading."
Cavusoglu added that Libya is in a "very difficult" position and said the country is likely to turn into Syria.
In the four years since the ouster and subsequent killing of long-time Libyan ruler, Muammar Qaddafi, rival militias have wreaked havoc in Libya's main cities, namely in the capital Tripoli and in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Turkey to send unofficial delegation to Crimea
Cavusoglu said Turkey will send an unofficial delegation to Crimea to observe the situation of Crimean Tatars.
The Crimean city of Simferopol witnessed clashes on Feb. 26, 2014 when Crimean Tatars and other pro-Ukrainian activists clashed with pro-Russian demonstrators.
A referendum on the status of Crimea was held on March 16, 2014 and a majority of the Crimean population voted to become part of the Russian Federation. The U.S. and EU denounced the referendum as illegitimate, as the region was occupied by Russian soldiers at the time.
According to Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, there are 280,000 Crimean Tatars in Crimea, making up about 13 percent of the total population.
"The quality of life for Crimean Tatars is not so good," said Cavusoglu.
Cavusoglu also said that Turkey will share the reports with international and non-governmental organizations after the unofficial delegation completed its observations.
Prince Charles to come to Turkey
Cavusoglu said Prince Charles and Prince Harry will attend the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Canakkale
New Zealand, Australia and Azerbaijan are the other countries that will attend the anniversary.
In January, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent invitation letters to more than 100 leaders, including Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, to participate in the commemoration of the Battle of Canakkale on April 24.
Sargsyan reportedly denounced Erdogan's invitation as a "short-sighted" attempt to overshadow the 100th anniversary of the 1915 events.
The famous battle coincides with the 1915 events that took place during World War I. A portion of the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the invading Russians and revolted against the empire. A decision by the Ottoman Empire to relocate Armenians in eastern Anatolia followed the revolts and there were some Armenian casualties during the relocation process.
Armenia terms the events as "genocide" and has demanded compensation, whereas Turkey officially refutes this description, saying that, although Armenians died during relocations, many Turks also lost their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.
Greek defense minister
Cavsuoglu said the recent statements of the Greek Minister of National Defense are a "disaster."
In February, Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said the Cyprus problem remains a subject of “invasion and occupation” for the Greek government.
He criticized the presence of the Turkish seismic vessel Barbaros in the Exclusive Economic Zone in the eastern Mediterranean, calling it a "provocation."
"He (Panos Kammenos) uses every means to poison the positive atmosphere and create tension," said Cavusoglu.
The Turkish foreign ministry released a press release saying, "We invite the Greek government to display common sense and to bring these irresponsible actions under control as soon as possible."
