Erdogan Invokes Document Reiterating Past Territorial Claims To Mosul

Mosul is in Iraq, but Turkey’s President Erdogan has invoked an early 20th-century irredentist document that says the Iraqi city is on Turkish soil. The Turkish claim comes on the eve of the battle to retake Mosul from ISIS by a US-led coalition and the Iraqi army. Kurdish Peshmerga forces in Iraq who have been battling ISIS also have territorial claims in the area. Iraq has so far discouraged Turkey’s attempt to enter the fight, for good reason it appears.  Anti War reports: In the wake of WW1, one of the biggest territorial issues to be settled was “the Mosul Question,” where both Turkey and Britain claimed all of present-day northern Iraq, including Mosul, Irbil, and Kirkuk. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today cited the Misak-i Milli as part of their determination to be involved in fighting ISIS in Mosul. The Misak-i Milli was a 1920 decision by the Ottoman Parliament, which among other things defined the territory of post-war Turkey, and it included the Mosul area, which had been Ottoman before the war. Britain, which wanted it as part of their colonial possessions, occupied Istanbul militarily and dissolved the parliament the following month. The “Mosul Question” remained a major [...]

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