For Turkish President Erdogan to violate the sovereignty of Iraq, especially with tensions rising between Ankara and Moscow, and with rumors that Turkey is helping to fund the Islamic State by buying its oil, he risks inflaming an already volatile situation.
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“Taking into account the sensitivities on the Iraqi side…”
Turkish foreign ministry said in the statement that “Turkey, in recognition of the Iraqi concerns, is continuing to move military forces from Nineveh province”.
Turkey deployed hundreds of troops in the Bashiqa area this month, with the stated aim of protecting its military personnel training Iraqi militia to fight against Islamic State.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has welcomed Turkey’s moving its troops from Mosul’s Bashiqa camp as a “step in the right direction”. But Baghdad, which considers the deployment of Turkish troops an illegal incursion, demanded the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraqi territory at a U.N. Security Council meeting.
Turkey claims that the troops are deployed to train Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters battling the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.
The Turkish move to pull troops came after President Barack Obama spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the phone and urged him to ease tensions with Iraq.
“Turkey… acknowledges the miscommunication with the government of Iraq over the deployments of Turkish protection forces…”, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in the statement.
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This had brought up to the total number of Turkish troops stationed in Mosul up to 1200, as per to the Daily Sabah.
