U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged Turkey to withdraw any unauthorized military forces from Iraq, the White House said.
Advertisement
Turkish troops repulsed an attack on Bashiqa Camp near Mosul late Thursday and killed at least 18 Daesh militants. “It is clear that with our armed soldiers there, our officers conducting training are prepared for anything at any time”, he told reporters in İstanbul.
The first attack took place on December 16 when the group fired Katyusha rockets at the camp and a second attack on December 27 (which ISIS filmed using a drone) left five Turkish soldiers injured and one Iraqi citizen dead.
Turkey deployed a force protection unit of around 150 troops earlier last month citing heightened security risks near Bashiqa, where its troops are training the Iraqi militia to fight Islamic State.
He said the raids were related to Iraq’s goal of retaking the city of Mosul – 400 km (250 miles) north of Baghdad – where Islamic State declared its intention to establish a caliphate stretching across the border with Syria.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi has vowed to retake Mosul this year as a “fatal and final blow” to IS.
“When the central Iraqi government gains control of the whole region so as to protect its sovereignty, then there will not be a need for Turkish presence”, he said, reiterating Turkey’s commitment to Iraq’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Following the deployment, the Arab League condemned Ankara for its military incursion into Iraqi territory and demanded that the Turkish government withdraw its troops. No. They are hitting non-ISIL rebel groups, moderate ones, and also targeting our Turkmen brethren.
Advertisement
Apart from divergent positions in the protracted Syrian crisis, Turkish-Russian relations sharply deteriorated after Turkey downed a Russian bomber jet on November 24, stirring Russian economic sanctions against Turkey.
