ERBIL, Kurdistan Region-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described Iraq’s complaint at the United Nations over the deployment of Turkish soldiers to Camp Bashiqa near Mosul as “not a honest step”.
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Elsewhere in the city of Nasiriyah, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad, demonstrators gathered near Habboubi Square, calling on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi to take “a firm stance” against Turkey’s act of “aggression”.
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.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had spoken with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari to discuss what it called the “unlawful incursion” by Turkey.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said Turkey should not have sent “troops to the territory of another state under the pretext of supporting the fight against terrorism” and called on the Iraqi government to “protect the sovereignty of Iraq”.
Turkey has a long-running training program at a base near the city of Mosul, IS’s main hub in Iraq, but the deployment last week expanded Ankara’s presence there.
Turkey refuses, saying the troops were deployed to protect trainers working with Kurdish Peshmerga forces fighting the Islamic State group. Iraq, however, denies any such deal.
“This is a flagrant violation of the provisions and principles of the U.N. Charter and in violation of the sanctity of Iraqi territory”, a statement from his office said.
Speaking to press members in the capital Ankara, Davutoglu said: “When it is found necessary, the nature and bulk of the measure [Turkey’s troops deployment] will be re-evaluated, depending on conditions in the field”.
“There are no any other military forces from any other country except Turkey on Iraqi soil”. “We support the processes, but we think the people will be heard in such important events”, he said.
The latest statement came after a visit to Baghdad on December 10 by a Turkish delegation headed by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Chief Hakan Fidan.
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Iraqi government also appealed to the UN Security Council about Turkish forces’ presence seeking assistance in resolving the crisis.
