Anadolu Agency, quoting unnamed military officials, said Monday that a 10 or 12-vehicle convoy, including tanks, had left the Bashiqa camp and was heading toward northern Iraq.
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The Vice President encouraged the Turkish government to continue its dialogue with Baghdad on additional measures to improve relations between Turkey and Iraq.
Al-Zoubai said that the Turkish soldiers will not participate in the battle for Mosul but added that the provincial council in Mosul welcomes Turkish training of local forces for the final operation.
“The Turkish army withdrew from Camp Zilkan at dawn today, and according to our information, only the trainers remain to train Hashad al-Watani forces”, Shabaki said, referring to anti-IS volunteers.
Last week, Iraq gave Turkey 48 hours to withdraw the troops, but the deadline passed without Ankara doing so and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan subsequently ruled out a withdrawal.
Monday’s troop movement was part of the “new arrangement”, the source told Reuters. But Iraqi PM Abadi has accused Ankara of violating Iraq’s sovereignty and asked them directly and through the United Nations to leave the country immediately.
The reports did not say if the troops were going back to Turkey or would be sent elsewhere in Iraq.
But it did not specify if they were moving farther north into Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, where Ankara has forces deployed at multiple sites, or leaving altogether.
Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former Mosul governor who established the Sunni militia camp where Turkish trainers and troops were stationed, confirmed that Turkey pulled out some troops.
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Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ankara doesn’t intend to dispatch new forces to Iraq or take out the military contingent that is already in the country.
