Iraq ’s oil wealth in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein . “ I have long said that we should have kept the oil in Iraq , ” he said in Youngstown , Ohio . “ I said , ‘ Keep the oil .
KARKAMIS , Turkey Turkish troops fired on U.S.-backed Kurdish militia fighters in northern Syria on Thursday , highlighting the complications of an incursion meant to secure the border region against both Islamic State and Kurdish advances . Syrian rebels backed by Turkish special forces , tanks and warplanes entered Jarablus , one of Islamic State 's last strongholds on the Turkish - Syrian border , on Wednesday . But President Tayyip Erdogan and senior government officials have made clear the aim of " Operation Euphrates Shield " is as much about stopping the Kurdish YPG militia seizingtransaction.transaction.transfercontrolterritory and filling the void left by Islamic State as it is about eliminating the ultra - hardline Islamist group itself . A Turkish security source said the army shelled the People 's Protection Units ( YPG ) south of Jarablus . Turkey 's state - run Anadolu agency described the action as warning shots .
NATO member Turkey shares a 1,200 km ( 750-mile ) border with Syria and Iraq and faces threats from Islamic State militants in both . But it is concerned that international efforts to destroy radical Islamists will leave new dangers in their wake . The Turkish army , its senior ranks purged following a failed military attempt to overthrow Erdogan in July , launched an incursion into Syria in August to push back Islamic State and prevent U.S .- backed Kurdish militia fighters from seizingtransaction.transaction.transfercontrolterritory . Ankara is wary of Washington 's support for what it sees as a hostile Syrian Kurdish force . Erdogan suggested Turkey could take a similar attitude in Iraq , where expectations are growing of an assault to drive Islamic State out of the northern city of Mosul .