A woman walks past a building which was damaged during the security operations and clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants, in the southeastern town of Silvan in Diyarbakir province, Turkey, December 7, 2015.
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The Security Council met Friday following a request from Iraq. “What has been reported in the media is a step in the right direction”, foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was quoted as saying in a statement from his office.
He said he wanted the resolution to consist of two main points. Iraq submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations to call for the removal of Turkish forces.
It came days after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu’s office said it had chose to reorganise its military personnel at Bashiqa following talks with Iraqi officials.
Turkey said that the 150 soldiers and up to 25 tanks were stationed in Bashiqa to protect Turkish servicemen training Iraqi volunteers to fight Daesh.
However, Iraqi authorities regard the move a flagrant breach of the country’s sovereignty and have repeatedly called on Ankara to withdraw its forces.
Iraqi ambassador, Mohamed Ali Alhakim, said, “We are solving it between Baghdad and Ankara bilaterally”. “Because taking this issue to various worldwide platforms would serve no other objective than to undermine the solidarity of the global community against Daesh”, Çevik told the Security Council.
The ministry said in a statement that Turkey would continue to move some of its troops out of Nineveh province, where the camp is based.
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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.
