Turkey will withdraw more troops from Iraq after US request

Baghdad regards the deployment as illegal.

He said that since the closed door briefing to the Security Council on 8 December 2015 by UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenea on the Turkish troop deployment in northern Iraq, Baghdad and Ankara have held high-level bilateral discussions on this issue.

“If the Iraqi government claims that it has full sovereignty over all its territory, then it is our right to expect that it prevents the use of Iraqi soil for terrorist attacks against our own territory”.

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).

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”.

Turkey will continue to coordinate with the Iraqi government its military contributions to the fight against the IS.

But the Iraqi government said the latest move had been carried out without consultation and violated national sovereignty and global law.

It comes a day after US President Barack Obama urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to “de-escalate tensions” with Baghdad.

“From the outset, we tried to resolve this matter through bilateral channels”.

On Dec. 4, Turkey reinforced the force protection component of its units in the camp due to increasing threats to their security.

“There are troops from 20 different countries in Iraq, including Australia”. That is why we see the U.S. at the same time actually intensifying its presence on the Iraqi soil through the so-called Special Forces. As part of these efforts, Turkish Prime Minister Davutoğlu is expected to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, and the Turkish foreign minister is also expected to meet with his Iraqi counterpart in the coming days.