Turkey denies former Iraqi prime minister's claims that Ankara allegedly gave support to ISIS, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said in written statement Tuesday. "Ex-Prime Minister [Nouri] Maliki's irrational remarks, which accuse our country of supporting ISIS, cannot be taken seriously," spokesman Tanju Bilgic said during his daily briefing. Bilgic instead blamed ex-Iraqi premier Nouri al-Malik for the current crisis in Iraq. He said that Maliki was only blaming Turkey after feeling guilty over the situation in Iraq. He added that Maliki's "discriminatory and exclusionary policies" made him the "chief architect" of the current situation in Iraq. The spokesman also blamed the Iraqi ex-premier for the fall of Mosul. "It is useful to recall that Maliki fled and delivered Mosul to ISIS within a day," he added. In June last year, ISIS overran Mosul, prompting Iraqi troops -- who were heavily armed and numerically superior -- to flee before the onslaught. Following the spectacular military victory, the group went on to capture large swathes of territory in both Iraq and Syria. Last month, Turkey agreed to allow U.S.-led coalition forces to launch airstrikes against ISIS positions from Incirlik, located near Turkey's border with war-torn Syria.
