Obama presses Turkey’s president to lower tensions with Iraq

President Erdoğan reiterated that Turkish troops in northern Iraq were there to fight against ISIL, according to a statement by the President’s Office. “Second, demanding Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately”, Jaafari told the UN Security Council of Friday.

The two leaders agreed that Turkey, the USA and Iraq should cooperate to ease the tensions and fight against ISIL in the region, according to Ankara.

The White Home stated on Wednesday that it has seen stories of assaults on a base in northern Iraq the place Turkish troops are stationed, and condemned the violence.

When asked by reporters whether his country will resort to force to remove the Turkish troops, al-Jaafari said his country has no intention of starting a war with other countries, but “all options are available”.

Baghdad complained about the December 4 deployment of troops to the site near Mosul, calling it a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and insisting the Turkish forces be withdrawn.

“Iraq has spared no effort to exhaust all diplomatic channels and bilateral negotiations with Turkey, in order to withdraw its forces that are unauthorized in Iraq”, Jaafari said. It is a clear-cut case of a major breach and the Iraqi government has given ample time to Ankara to withdraw its forces.

At the UNSC meeting, Turkey’s ambassador to the UN, Halit Cevik, repeated the party line, stating that the troops were sent into Iraq for protection in light of increased security threats.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take additional steps to de-escalate tensions with Iraq, the White House said.

President Erdogan affirmed his country’s respect of Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that Turkish troops are in northern Iraq to combat Daesh. Turkish armed forces said its soldiers returned fire and four had been lightly wounded in the incident.