Iraq is finalising the purchase of 20 air defence systems from Turkey, a senior Iraqi defence official has told The National, as Baghdad looks to avoid a repeat of widespread drone and missile strikes that hit the country during the Iran war.
The skies of Iraq have been “filled with drones” and the new systems will help intercept projectiles aimed at oilfields, diplomatic missions and other sites, Iraq’s Deputy Army Chief of Staff for Operations, Lt Gen Saad Harbiye, said in an interview at the Saha defence show in Istanbul.
“New air defences against drones have become really important for Iraq,” Lt Gen Harbiye said.
He declined to give the value of the deal or say which Turkish companies were providing the technology, but said they were state-owned enterprises.
“Turkish defence systems are top notch and low cost, and we are their neighbour,” he said, explaining why Iraq has chosen to purchase from Turkish companies.
Turkey’s Defence Ministry controls several manufacturing firms, which have in recent years built the country's arms industry into a key pillar of its foreign policy. Along with private companies, they have developed and exported air defences, drones and missiles, including most recently an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The notion of Iraq acquiring Turkish air defences existed before the war, Lt Gen Harbiye said. But sustained drone and missile attacks on Iraq since late February have added urgency to bolstering the country's limited air defences.
The war left Iraq caught in the middle, attacked by both sides. The US and Israel hit sites across the country linked to Iran-backed Iraqi militant groups, while Iran sent drones and missiles across the border, hitting oilfields, a hotel in central Baghdad housing diplomatic missions and Iranian opposition guerrilla groups based in the Kurdistan Region. Scores of people were killed.
The attacks were alarming for Iraq, which relies on oil exports for the vast bulk of government revenue and has been attempting to project an image of stability after decades of conflict.
Iraq-Turkey ties
A contract with Turkey has been signed, and Iraqi and Turkish officials were finalising financial details during the defence show, at which Lt Gen Harbiye met Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler. Iraq is also looking into closer co-operation on cyber security, a field in which Turkish firms are increasing their capabilities, Lt Gen Harbiye added.
A Turkish Defence Ministry official did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ministry confirmed the meeting between Mr Guler and Lt Gen Harbiye in a post on its X account.
A key part of the deal is ensuring Iraq’s ability to shoot down drones, which are harder than missiles for many air defence systems to trace and intercept.
“We have concentrated on this,” said Lt Gen Harbiye, who previously led military operations in Iraq’s Kirkuk and Dhi Qar provinces.
Many systems use interception missiles “worth $1 million to shoot down a drone costing $10,000", he added. The Turkish systems would allow Iraq to defend its territory against drones without having such expensive systems.
With a fragile ceasefire in place between Iran, the US and Israel, there is no guarantee that the conflict engulfing the region will not reignite. Iraq, where a new government is being formed, wants to stay out of it.
Parties to the conflict “wanted to get Iraq involved in this war, which is not its war”, Lt Gen Harbiye said. Some of the militant groups which launched attacks within Iraq are officially part of the country’s security forces, but are widely seen as more loyal to Tehran than Baghdad. “All forces need to obey the law,” Lt Gen Harbiye said when asked about them.
After long-standing tension over militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, as well as water management and oil exports, Baghdad and Ankara have in recent years been trying to put their differences aside and build co-operation. A multibillion-dollar transit route connecting the countries to the Gulf would benefit both economically and Iraq has bolstered security co-operation with Turkey, while taking a harder stance on the PKK, which Ankara considers a terrorist organisation.
Both countries share an interest in preventing a resurgence of ISIS, which wreaked havoc when it occupied much Iraqi territory from 2014 to 2017.
Lt Gen Harbiye said there were still Isis members in provinces including Mosul, Anbar and Kirkuk, but their number was “very small” and military interception of their communications had not picked up any conversations in recent months. “We haven’t heard them communicating,” he said.
