Baghdad: Turkish troops must leave northern Iraq within 48 hours

The ministry said in a statement on Saturday that the Turkish forces had entered Iraqi territory without the knowledge of the central government in Baghdad, and that Iraq considered such presence “a hostile act”.

The statement also called on Turkey “to respect good neighbourly relations”.

The Turkish troops, tanks and artillery were sent to Nineveh, a northern province largely held by IS, in an area now controlled by Kurdish forces but also claimed by Baghdad.

Khaled al-Obeidi said in a statement the Turkish defense minister had explained the deployment as necessary to protect Turkish military advisers training Iraqi forces in preparation for a campaign to retake Mosul.

Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city with a civilian population of one million, was overrun by the Islamic State in June 2014. Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said Abadi had in the past requested Turkish support against Islamic State and that he believed that Iraq’s ultimatum was the result of third country pressure; that was an indirect reference to Russian Federation.

“Tomorrow, the period of 48 hours will end, and if there would be no withdrawal, all the options will be opened, or we will resort to the global organizations”, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said at a joint press conference with his German counterpart Frank Walter Steinmeier – who was in Baghdad for an official visit.

“No further forces will be deployed to Bashiqa until concerns of the Iraqi government are overcome”, Davutoglu wrote in the letter as Reuters reported citing sources at the Turkish PM’s office.

The camp is used by a force called Hashid Watani (national mobilisation), which is made up of mainly Sunni Arab former Iraqi police and volunteers from Mosul. He added that Turkish forces first set up the camp, which is some 19 miles from Mosul, about a year ago.

The United States has reiterated its opposition to the deployment of any military forces inside Iraq without consent from the Iraqi government.

He said Kurdish local government asked of Turkey to continue providing training to peshmerga forces.

However, the USA military officials said that several hundred Turkish troops had moved into Iraq and appeared to be there for a training mission. It is also part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIL.

The newspaper said that an agreement to do this was concluded early last month between Iraqi Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani and then Turkish foreign minister Feridun Sinirlioglu.