News / Turkey

Turkey says has duty to protect troops in Iraq

Monday, 07 December 2015 11:31 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 07 December 2015 11:31 AM ]

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (Photo by AFP)

Turkey says it has a duty to protect those Turkish troops sent to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, who it says were deployed upon Baghdad’s request to “train and advise” Iraqi forces fighting the Takfiri Daesh terrorists.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu claimed in an interview on Turkish television on Monday that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had repeatedly requested more active Turkish forces against Daesh.

The claim comes even as the Iraqi government has vehemently objected to the Turkish deployment of forces, calling it a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and demanding that it stop.

Baghdad has said the Turkish forces, equipped with unusually heavy weaponry, entered the country “without the approval or knowledge of the Iraqi government.” It has given Ankara 48 hours to withdraw its forces or face “all available options,” including recourse to the UN Security Council.

Cavusoglu said that other countries had influenced Iraq in its response to the deployment. He did not explain.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has described the deployment as a routine troop rotation. He claimed Turkish forces had set up a camp near Mosul a year ago in co-ordination with Iraq.

Davutoglu, however, said in a letter to his Iraqi counterpart on Sunday, that Ankara will cease transferring troops near areas in Mosul. He said, “There will be no deployment of forces to Bashiqa until the sensitivities of the Iraqi government are addressed,” referring to the area where the troops had been deployed.

Meanwhile, Nabil Elaraby, the secretary-general of the Arab League, has roundly condemned the Turkish deployment of soldiers to northern Iraq, calling it “blatant intervention” in the Arab country.

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