Turkey halts deployment of troops in Iraq, but will not withdraw

Turkey will not deploy more troops to northern Iraq nor will it withdraw those already present in the area, the foreign minister said yesterday.

In a telephone conversation with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim Al-Jaafari on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu reiterated Ankara’s respect for Iraq’s unity and territorial integrity, spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters.

Çavuşoğlu is reported to have told Al-Jaafari that Turkey’s presence in an area near Mosul, which is held Daesh, aims to support Iraq’s fight against the group.

Bilgic said that the military training of forces fighting Daesh will continue in coordination with Iraq.

Turkey says the deployment of troops in northern Iraq is part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi forces, however, the Iraqi government said it never invited such forces and threatened to bring the case to the United Nations if Ankara did not withdraw.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said yesterday that he wanted to visit Baghdad as soon as possible to try to calm the dispute.

“Turkish troops are in Iraq to protect against a possible attack from ISIL and those who interpreted their presence differently are involved in a deliberate provocation,” Davutoğlu said, using another acronym for the Daesh.

He said his government had discussed on Monday possible measures against Russia and will impose sanctions if needed, while remaining open to talks with Moscow.

Davutoğlu also criticised recent “insults and attacks” directed at Turkey from Iran, warning that the Turkish-Iranian friendship would suffer greatly if such attitudes continued.