Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar is on an official visit to Iraq in what observers saw as a continuation of Turkey's efforts to impose its security and military equality on Iraq. This equation, which Ankara has already begun to implement on the ground, is based on turning Iraqi territories into Turkey's front line of defense and a battlefield in Turkey's war against the Kurdish Workers' Party, Arab Weekly reported.

Ankara expects to impose its equalization by force by intensifying its military operations inside Iraq and expanding these operations beyond the border areas inside Iraq. It is betting on persuading the Iraqi authorities to cooperate and agree with the presence of Turkish troops on Iraqi soil through talks with the government on vital issues.

The Iraqis do not rule out that the Turkish government, known for its opportunistic tendencies, will seek to force Iraq to agree to the establishment of Turkish military bases on its territory in exchange for a share of water resources requested by its government.

Last August, when the Iraqi government was awaiting an apology from Ankara for the killing of two officers and an Iraqi army soldier in a Turkish airstrike against the Kurdish region of Bradost, the Turkish government blamed Iraq for the incident.

The Iraqi MFA announced that Baghdad had canceled the visit of the Turkish defense minister to the country and called the Turkish Ambassador to inform him of Iraq's firm rejection of acts of aggression and violations against the country.