Iraqi Troops Been Trained By Turkish Soldiers Near Mosul

Turkey said on Sunday, it would halt further transfers of troops to an area near the Islamic State-controlled Iraqi city of Mosul after Baghdad threatened to appeal to the United Nations to force Turkey to withdraw its soldiers.

The ministry said 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”.

He said he was not aware of the size of the force and refused to speculate.

Also on Sunday, Iraq’s defense minister said he had told his Turkish counterpart that Turkey had deployed forces inside northern Iraq without informing or coordinating with Baghdad, noting that they must be withdrawn.

The Arab League has condemned deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, saying it amounts to “an intervention”. A battalion of soldiers has gone there. He added that Turkish forces first set up the camp, which is some 19 miles from Mosul, about a year ago.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi’s office has said it welcomed foreign assistance but Iraq’s government would need to approve any deployment of special operations forces anywhere in Iraq.

The officials said that the Turkish force wasn’t related to the broader U.S.-led campaign against Islamic State. A total of 2,044 people, half of them Iraqi Kurdish fighters, have been trained there since March 2015, according to ranking official Turkish sources.

Anadolu reported on Friday that about 150 soldiers and 20 to 25 tanks arrived in the region, stationed at military camps both near Mosul and close to the Iranian border. Baghdad has also asked for global aid and training to fight the Islamic State group, but it stressed that troops on the ground are unwelcome without a direct request.

Iraqi Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani sees the PKK, which is also a key player in the anti-jihadist effort, as a rival in the Kurdish world.

Earlier this week, Turkey deployed over 100 troops equipped with tanks and artillery in the town of Bashiqa, 10 kilometers northeast of Mosul, which is a stronghold of the Islamic State terror group (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Sunni fighters in Ninevah and the western Anbar province say the Shiite-dominated government has failed to provide them with the support and weaponry needed to defeat the IS group. “This includes deployment of USA military personnel, as well as military personnel from any other country”.

But Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, which has forces in the area, said that Turkey had sent military experts and supplies to expand the base.