Withdrawal of Turkish Troops From Northern Iraqi Province Underway

Ankara started withdrawing its troops on December 14, after Iraq had officially filed a complaint with the UN Security Council, calling on the United Nations to ensure an immediate pullout of the Turkish forces from its country’s territory.

But the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government recently asked Turkey to withdraw those troops after regional tensions between pro-Sunni Turkey and Shiite Iran worsened.

In a statement the ministry said Turkey would continue to move some of its troops out of Iraq’s Nineveh province, where they are now based.

A Turkish military source said earlier Monday that part of the Turkish troops deployed in Bashiqa had been transferred to another part of northern Iraq.

The Turkish government has said miscommunication led to a recent row with Baghdad over the presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraqi town of Bashiqa to support training of Iraqi forces against Daesh, Anadolu agency reported. For Turkish President Erdogan to violate the sovereignty of Iraq, especially with tensions rising between Ankara and Moscow, and with rumors that Turkey is helping to fund the Islamic State by buying its oil, he risks inflaming an already volatile situation.

Turkey said it will continue to coordinate with the Baghdad government in the war against ISIS.

Ankara has said that the deployment of the force-protection unit was due to heightened security risks near the camp, which is close to the Islamic State-held Iraqi city of Mosul.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has welcomed Turkey’s moving its troops from Mosul’s Bashiqa camp as a “step in the right direction”.