On Friday, a Turkish security source confirmed that several hundred Turkish soldiers had been sent to an area near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is under the control of “Islamic State” (IS) militants.
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In a statement December 5, Abadi said the entry of “around one armed battalion with a number of tanks and cannons” into the northern Nineveh province was a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.
On Friday, various media reports said that about 130 Turkish military personnel had been deployed to the Mosul area allegedly to provide training to Kurdish Peshmerga (a military force of Iraqi Kurdistan) which is somewhat ironic considering the Peshmerga are the best fighters in the region.
The statement called on Turkey to “respect good neighbourly relations and to withdraw immediately from the Iraqi territory”.
Mosul is under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The Watani force was formed by former governor Atheel al-Nujaifi, who is close to Turkey. USA officers in Washington stated they have been aware of Turkey’s move, nevertheless it wasn’t coordinated with the anti-IS coalition operating in northern Iraq. A battalion of soldiers has gone there. Turkey joined the US-led coalition against IS only this year, in late July. Officials said the Turkish troops are moving across the border and arriving in Iraq.
Daesh, a radical Sunni group, has ceased vast areas in Iraq, as well as Syria.
On Tuesday, the USA said it was deploying a new force of special operations troops to Iraq to conduct raids against ISIL there and in neighbouring Syria, ratcheting up its campaign against the group.
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Al-Abadi reiterated that foreign ground combat troops were not needed in Iraq. It was unclear how they viewed the presence of Turkish soldiers.
