Turkey to withdraw troops from Iraq after Obama appeal

The statement stressed on “the government’s firm position not to allow presence of any military ground force on Iraqi soil and to respect Iraq’s national sovereignty”.

Turkey withdrew some troops earlier this week from Basheeqa base, but Iraq has continued to demand a “full withdrawal”. Islamic State is also known as Daesh.

Turkish regime announced on Saturday that it will continue pulling its forces out of Iraq, while Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari called for a Security Council (UNSC) resolution denouncing the Turkish violation of Iraqi territories.

Following a series of bilateral talks to alleviate Iraq’s concerns, Turkey rearranged the number of troops in Bashiqa and the additional security elements left the camp on December 14.

A senior Turkish official said last week that between 150 and 300 soldiers and 20 tanks were deployed to protect Turkish military trainers at the Bashiqa camp near Mosul. Turkey responded by accusing Iraq of sabotaging the fight against Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL). Two airstrikes inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy, allowing a rapid advance, but the third hit Iraqi troops, it said.

The ministry did not say how many troops would be moved or where they would go. Ivanov called these claims “unconvincing”, since the province is not part of Iraqi Kurdistan, “but is directly subordinate to Baghdad”.

“We are there in the framework of fighting Daesh”.

Obama acknowledged Turkey’s contribution to the anti-ISIL fight as an important partner of the worldwide coalition but asked Erdoğan to take steps to relieve al-Abadi against internal pressure and to end the crisis.