Mosul, which is predominantly Sunni Arab, is a key centre of IS’s self-proclaimed “caliphate”, but an operation to retake the city remains a distant prospect.
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“In the absence of the withdrawal of these forces within 48 hours, Iraq has the right to use all available options”, including recourse to the Security Council, a statement from Abadi’s office said.
Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city with a civilian population of one million, was overrun by the Islamic State in June 2014.
Turkish soldiers in the Mosul region were first sent there two-and-a-half years ago in order to train Iraqi peshmerga forces.
A senior Kurdish military officer based on the Bashiqa front-line told Reuters that additional Turkish trainers had arrived at a camp in the area overnight on Thursday escorted by a Turkish protection force.
In recent days, Baghdad has accused Ankara of sending troops to northern Iraq, where Turkey has been training anti-IS forces, without its knowledge or approval and demanded they be withdrawn.
“This is not a new camp”, but rather a pre-existing “training facility established to support local volunteer forces’ fight against terrorism”, Davutoglu said.
“Those who are disturbed by the cooperation of Turkey and Iraq and who want to end it should not be allowed to attain their goal”, it said. A battalion of soldiers has gone there.
On his Facebook page, al-Nujaifi stated on Saturday evening that the arrival of Turkish forces to Nineveh “came at the request of the Iraqi prime minister during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu”.
Turkey, however, later denied that it has expanded its military activities in northern Iraq after it deployed troops close to an area controlled by the Islamic State group.
Powerful Iraqi Shi’ite Muslim armed groups have pledged to fight a planned deployment of USA forces to the country. “One battalion had crossed in to the region”.
The Wall Street Journal reports a spokesman for the Kurdish Regional Government confirmed Turkey’s description of the mission, although it is further noted that 25 tanks and armored fighting vehicles accompanied the 150 Turkish troops. It remains unclear whether the remaining Turkish “training” troops will be called back.
The incident sparked a rebuke from fellow North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member states, and led Russian President Vladimir Putin to label Turkey as “accomplices of terrorists”.
“It is our duty to provide security for our soldiers providing training there”, Cavusoglu said in an interview on Turkey’s Kanal 24 television.
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Turkey is a supporter of the autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq, despite tensions with its own Kurdish minority.
