Iraqi Protesters Strongly Slam Turkish Troop Deployment

On Dec. 10, Erdoğan had said it was “out of the question at the moment” that Turkish troops would withdraw from Iraq. Iraq submitted an official complaint with the Security Council on Friday, demanding an immediate and unconditional removal of the Turkish forces.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi on Friday addressed the nation and called for Turkish troops to withdraw from the country.

Erdogan defended Turkey’s move to send more troops, saying IS and other terror groups were “running wild” in Iraq and that Baghdad was not able to protect the Turkish soldiers there.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on December 12 that Lavrov and Jaafari had spoken by phone to discuss the “unlawful incursion”.

Thousands of Shiite militiamen and supporters rallied on Saturday and demanded that Turkish troops immediately withdraw from Iraqi territory, a show of strength by the country’s powerful militia groups and the Shiite political rivals of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Turkey has stationed troops at a base outside of the Iraqi city of Mosul since a year ago as part of a training mission coordinated with the Iraqi government in Baghdad. Iraq, however, denies any such deal.

Some protesters trampled a Turkish flag and others chanted slogans or waved banners against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The statement describes the act as a “flagrant violation of the provisions and principles of the U.N. Charter”, adding that it is in “violation of the sanctity of Iraqi territory and the sovereignty of the Iraqi state”.

And Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, also criticised the Turkish deployment, which he said was done “under the pretext” of supporting the war against IS.

Meanwhile, a senior Iraqi politician said that Turkey is plotting to create a Sunni-dominated region in Iraq and Syria by deploying forces to Mosul.

“Turkish troops in Mosul are not there as combatants; they are trainers”. We don’t have that luxury.

“Taking into account the Iraqi government’s sensitivity, the decision was taken to reorganize the military personnel in the protection force at the Bashiqa camp”, Davutoglu’s office said.

Turkey this week urged its citizens to leave all areas of Iraq excluding Iraqi Kurdistan, due to increased security risks.