Turkish Army Makes Military Incursion into Syrian Soil in Hasaka Province

Turkey’s incursion into Hasaka province has been done to station troops in a Mountainous region close to Sarmasakh border village in the Northern part of Hasaka province, the Arabic-language Hadas news channel reported on Thursday.

The report noted that the Turkish forces are now as close as 150 meters from a strategic hill near Sarmasakh village.

The Turkish incursion into Syria comes as tensions between the Ankara and Baghdad have increased dramatically since Turkey reinforced its military deployment in Iraq with about 150 soldiers backed by artillery and around 25 tanks in a base near the ISIL-controlled northern Iraqi city of Mosul on December 4.

The Iraqi government considered this action as a hostile act in violation of its sovereignty and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops.

On Sunday, the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced the withdrawal of military troops from Iraq to reduce tensions following international criticism. The decision to pull out troops also came after Iraq brought the issue to the United Nations Security Council.

Yet, part of the Turkish troops are still in Northern Iraq.