Turkey 's defense Minister Mevlit Cavusoglu has warned the country may launch a military ground operation in Iraq if it feels its interests there are being threatened , thereby further heightening tensions between the two US nations . As we arrived on 11 October , senior Iraqi security officials warned that their forces would attack their Turkish counterparts if they deployed more troops to fight in the Islamic State . US officials have been trying to mediate between the two nations , without offending either , and have reminded them of the long - standing policy statement that any fighting against terrorism in Iraq must be conducted in coordination with and permission of Iraq .
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlit Cavusoglu has warned the country may launch a military ground operation in Iraq if it feels its interests there are being threatened, thereby further heightening tensions between the two US allies. As we noted on 11 October, senior Iraqi security officials warned that their forces would attack their Turkish counterparts if Turkey deployed more troops to fight in the Islamic State. US officials have been trying to mediate between the two nations, without offending either, and have reminded them of the long-standing policy stating that any fighting against ISIS in Iraq must be done in coordination with and permission of Iraq.