Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that a complaint lodged by Iraq’s government to the U.N. Security Council about the presence of Turkish forces in the country was not an honest step.
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“This is considered a flagrant violation of the principles of the U.N. Charter, and a violation of Iraqi territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Iraq”, the letter continues.
The letter, which was seen by Reuters, was sent after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi instructed the Foreign Ministry to lodge a formal complaint at the United Nations.
As tensions smoulder between Moscow and Ankara over Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane last month, Russia labelled the Turkish deployment an “unlawful incursion”.
Crowds of young men in military fatigues chanted against Turkish “occupation”, vowing they would fight the Turkish troops themselves if they do not withdraw.
However, President Erdoğan again vowed on December 11 that Turkey would not withdraw troops, despite strong objections from Baghdad.
The protesters in Baghdad said the deployment is a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, asking the government to pressure Ankara for the withdrawal of the forces.
Sistani urged citizens to show restraint towards foreign residents of Iraq, after Shiite paramilitary groups threatened to use force against Turkey and target its interests to force it to pull out. In addition, 20-25 tanks were also deployed to the region.
“As the leader of a military brigade, I am not fully satisfied with the government’s action, and we are here to say that Iraq’s patience has run out”, said Ali Rubaie, the commander of a unit usually stationed west of Baghdad.
The Turkish premier informed Biden of the training activity in Bashiqa since March and measures taken to protect the trainers and the camp there.
Iraqi government also appealed to the UN Security Council about Turkish forces’ presence seeking assistance in resolving the crisis.
On Dec. 11, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz would shortly pay a visit to Baghdad upon a consensus reached with Iraqi Foreign Minister İbrahim al-Jaafari.
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Separately, Iraqi officials say a suicide vehicle bomb targeting a border security post in the western Al Anbar Governorate has killed five and wounded 10.
