State Department’s Spokesperson, Heather Nauert, said the United States understands Turkey’s concern over the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, NRT reported.

“Sinjar (Shingal) and the United States expect that any operations in Iraq would be done with the approval of the Iraqi Government,” she said in a press conference on Thursday, March 29.

“So if Turkey is coming into Sinjar, they need to coordinate that with the Government of Iraq.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Turkey would do “what is necessary” if the Iraqi government’s operation in Shingal failed.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, however, told his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim in a telephone call on Tuesday that Iraqi forces had instructions to prevent “foreign fighters” from launching cross-border attacks on Turkey.

“We reject any Turkish violation of our land,” Abadi added.

Last week, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari rejected any military action on Iraq’s soil by any neighboring country.

Reporter’s code: 50101