Turkey halts sending Army to Iraq

Iraq says it has not been informed of the deployment, and summoned the Turkish ambassador to demand the immediate withdrawal.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesman Safeen Dizayee said the presence of such forces was not new to the region, and Turkey had been involved in various ways by training Kurdish forces against Daesh.

There are now some 3,500 U.S. troops in Iraq, training Iraqi forces and supporting the US-led campaign of airstrikes.

Iraq accused Turkey of violating the Iraqi constitution and striking separate deals with the Kurdish region on energy without the approval or consent of the central government in Baghdad.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani visited Turkey on Wednesday as Ankara was embroiled in a crisis with Baghdad over the deployment of troops near an Islamic State group-held area in northern Iraq.

The Iraqi parliament has made a decision to invite the country’s foreign and defense ministers to its session on Sunday to discuss the government’s response to the Razzaq Mihebis, a deputy from Badr Organisation party, told RT. While Baghdad says the deployment happened without its knowledge or approval, Ankara says it was a routine rotation of troops.

“It itself was the first to violate global norms by invading Iraq without United Nations sanctions, as well as bombing Libya and meddling in Syria’s internal affairs”, he said.

In a phone conversation with his Iraqi counterpart late on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu emphasised Ankara’s respect for Iraq’s territorial integrity, spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters.

Turkish jets have frequently bombed PKK sites in northern Iraq.

But in the current political climate, the diplomat explained, endorsing the deployment of USA ground troops would be political suicide for Abadi. He then met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

“Let us be realistic”, said the lawmaker, who requested his name be withheld so he could speak freely on the subject.

In its travel warning, Ankara cited increasing threats targeting Turkish companies recently, as well as declarations encouraging violence, abduction and attacks.