On Friday Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi instructed the foreign ministry to launch a formal complaint at the UNSC over an incursion nade by Turkish troops last week. “Armenpress” reports the aforementioned citing Sputnik International.
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He also called on the UN Security Council to “protect Iraq and its security, sovereignty, safety and territorial integrity, which were violated by Turkish forces”, a statement from his office said.
On December 4, Turkey deployed about 150 troops and 25 tanks to a base in the Iraqi Nineveh province, without Baghdad’s approval.
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.
Turkish flags burned. Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who’s the present Prime Minister’s fiercest competitor, walked through the square and was mobbed by assistants who snapped pictures and video on their telephones.
Turkey has had troops near Mosul to help train local Kurdish and Sunni forces since previous year but the arrival of additional troops last week sparked uproar in Baghdad.
On Sunday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian described the deployment of Turkish forces in northern Iraq as a wrong measure, saying it jeopardizes security across the region.
Iraq has already tried to solve the crisis with “peaceful and diplomatic means”, Abadi said in the televised address.
On Dec. 10, Erdoğan had said it was “out of the question at the moment” that Turkish troops would withdraw from Iraq.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said on Friday that Turkey had no plans to withdraw troops and would continue with the training process “in agreement” with Iraq.
Iraq on Friday circulated a letter among the members of the UN Security Council to express “growing alarm” that the problem was not being resolved.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu and National Intelligence Agency (MIT) head Hakan Fidan visited Baghdad on Thursday for talks with Abadi on the issue.
Iraq’s powerful Shi’ite cleric and paramilitary leader Muqtada al-Sadr meanwhile calls Turkey’s troop presence an invasion and promised to “take action” if Baghdad does not step in.
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“The parties that mainly provoke this incident are not the Republic of Turkey and Iraq”.
