The ministry said in a statement the Turkish forces had entered Iraqi territory without the knowledge of the central government in Baghdad, and that Iraq considered such presence “a hostile act”.
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Another senior Turkish official said the soldiers in the region were there to train Kurdish Peshmerga fighters.
According to the KRG, Turkish military equipment and experts are to replace an existing unit in the northern Iraq.
Fresh deployment of some 150 new Turkish troops at a military camp located near Mosul has strained the ties between Turkey and Iraq with Baghdad asking Ankara to withdraw them immediately.
The recent deployment also sends a warning to Russian Federation over its deepening involvement in the region, Haluk Ozdemir, head of worldwide relations at Turkey’s Kirikkale University, said by phone on Sunday before Turkey’s promise not to send more soldiers. Ankara’s activities in Iraq go hand-in-hand with Turkey’s plans to support offensive operations against the Islamic State and the government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, has promised not to “deploy more troops to Bashika till your concerns about the matter are eased”.
“Turkey’s fight is against terrorist organisations”.
The Turkish deployment is just the latest in a series of challenges he faced over the past week that have pushed him to take a hard line on foreign forces helping Iraq against IS, which overran large parts of Iraq a year ago.
“This is not a new camp”, Davutoglu said.
Iraq has threatened to go to the United Nations if Turkey does not withdraw soldiers it sent to areas near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul within 48 hours.
Iraqi Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi also asked for the forces to be withdrawn in a telephone call with his Turkish counterpart Ismet Yilmaz, the ministry said on Sunday.
The growing furor over the Turkish troops is an outgrowth of the long-standing feud between the Shiite Muslim- dominated government in Baghdad and the Kurdish-led government in Erbil.
According to the Reuters’ sources, the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition was aware of the Turkey’s move. In a report published last month, Ayham Kamel, the director for the Middle East and North Africa at the political risk firm Eurasia Group, predicted that Mr. Abadi would likely be ousted sometime next year.
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“This is part of the fight against Daesh”, he said, adding that there were around 20 armored vehicles accompanying them as protection.
