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Turkey starts troops pullout from Iraq’s Mosul

Turkish analysts believe Ankara should have coordinated its troops movement in Iraq with the federal government and leave if necessary and ordered by the legitimate government.

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Turkey has deployed troops near the city of Mosul, which is controlled by the jihadist group Islamic State, since 2014 to train Iraqi Kurdish forces.

Since March, Turkey has been operating a training program in the camp.

Over the past few days, thousands of Iraqi protesters have staged demonstrations across the country to denounce the Turkish deployment of military forces. The Turkish troops in the camp were not given combat duties and responsibilities. Turkey halted additional deployment, but said it vowed it won’t withdraw troops from Iraq.

It is not yet clear whether the troops were moving within Iraq or heading back to Turkey. “This will not help Iraq defend its sovereignty”, Mahdi said.

Ameri warned of the consequences of the Turkish government to continue its presence on Iraqi soil, reiterating on the ability of the PMU and security services to destroy the Turkish forces completely in order to preserve the sovereignty and dignity of the nation. The Iraqi government, however, denies any such deal.

“If it is unable to do so, it should request global assistance”, Allawi asserted.

Meanwhile, Russia on Monday said a summit between President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan pencilled in for December 15 had been cancelled, with ties between the two leaders in tatters over the downing of a Russian warplane.

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“During a visit to Turkey in 2014, [Iraqi PM Haider] al-Abadi demanded [the dispatch of Turkish troops] for training”, Erdogan said Friday.

Iraqi FM calls for dialogue with Turkey