Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi called on the Turkish troops to immediately leave the country, calling it a “breach” of Iraq’s sovereignty.
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Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s office said foreign assistance is welcomed but need to have a proper approval from the government.
On Friday, various media reports said that about 130 Turkish military personnel had been deployed to the Mosul area allegedly to provide training to Kurdish Peshmerga (a military force of Iraqi Kurdistan) which is somewhat ironic considering the Peshmerga are the best fighters in the region.
“The Iraqi authorities call on Turkey to… immediately withdraw from Iraqi territory”, the statement said.
The troops crossed the border about 30 kilometers from the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.
But while USA defense officials confirmed that Washington had known of the stationing, they said the move was not part of the US-led coalitions’ activities against IS.
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry described the entry of an estimated 150 Turkish soldiers and 25 tanks as “an incursion” and rejected any military operation that was not coordinated with the federal government in Baghdad.
“This camp was established as a training camp for a force of local volunteers fighting terrorism”, he said in a speech to a labour union that was broadcast live by NTV news channel.
The Iraqi government has asked Turkey to withdraw troops it sent to an area near the northern city of Mosul.
Mosul has been under the control of ISIS since past year. Powerful Iraqi Shiite Muslim armed groups have pledged to fight any deployment of USA forces to the country.
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Turkey says its forces, who were already in northern Iraq to train Arab Sunni tribesmen and police against the Islamic State, are now training peshmerga forces outside Mosul.
