Iraqi official gives Turkish troops deadline to leave country

Following an appeal from the White House, Turkey agreed on Saturday to pull more of its soldiers out of northern Iraq, where they have been reportedly battling the group calling itself the “Islamic State” (IS).

According to the BBC Turkey’s foreign ministry has claimed a “miscommunication” with Baghdad was responsible for the deployment.

Turkey accused Iraq today of undermining the global fight against Islamic State militants by taking its complaint about the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq to the United Nations Security Council.

The Turkish government has said miscommunication led to a recent row with Baghdad over the presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraqi town of Bashiqa to support training of Iraqi forces against Daesh, Anadolu agency reported. It is a clear-cut case of a major breach and the Iraqi government has given ample time to Ankara to withdraw its forces. “First, condemn that illegal Turkish occupation and invasion”, which violated Iraq’s sovereignty as well as UN Charter and worldwide law.

Ankara deployed hundreds of troops to Bashiqa in early December, saying the force was part of an worldwide mission to train and equip Iraqi forces to fight Islamic State (IS).

He also urged Turkey “to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq”.

Turkey’s UN Ambassador Halit Cevik said the deployment had been taken out of context and that additional troops had been sent to the camp to provide force protection due to increasing threats.

The statement said Ankara will pursue withdrawing the troops in Bashika of Mosul province. He added that the overarching principle for the USA is that Iraq is a sovereign country, and foreign forces should only be there if requested by the government of Iraq.