The Turkish government says its soldiers in Iraq are on training missions with Sunni Arab groups and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who are battling the Islamic State organisation.
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President Erdogan affirmed his country’s respect of Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that Turkish troops are in northern Iraq to combat Daesh. Baghdad has criticized the deployment, and demanded that Turkey pull out the troops.
Turkey has recognised a “miscommunication” with Iraq over its recent deployment of troops to the Bashiqa military base in northern Iraq, its foreign ministry has said.
“Turkey, in recognition of the Iraqi concerns and in accordance with the requirements of the fight against Daesh [IS], is continuing to move military forces from Nineveh province that were the source of miscommunication”.
The ministry did not say how many troops would be moved or where they would go. Turkey has stationed troops there since past year but had recently sent more with the stated aim of protecting its forces from IS attacks. Turkish armed forces said its soldiers returned fire and four had been lightly wounded in the incident.
Now what I can clearly see is that although the U.S. is now calling on Turkey to withdraw its forces but it is inconceivable that those Turkish forces which are part of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation have actually entered Iraqi territory without the full blessing and consent of the Americans.
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On Monday, Turkey’s state-run news agency quoted military officials as saying a 10 or 12-vehicle convoy had left Bashiqa camp and was moving north.
