Iraqi PM: No solution without Turkish troop withdrawal

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said the solution of Iraqi-Turkey “crisis” over the deployment of Turkish troops near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul could only be solved only by a “full withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraqi territory”.

The statement issued by the Iraqi Prime Ministry’s media office came after a visit to Baghdad on Thursday from a Turkish delegation headed by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu and the head of the National Intelligence Organisation, Hakan Fidan.

Turkey has previously stated that it has halted deployment of additional troops in Iraq, but will not withdraw troops already present.

The withdrawal of Turkish forces will pave the way for “positive relations, coordination and cooperation between the two neighbouring countries in various fields”, the statement said.

The Turkish delegation expressed “Turkey’s commitment to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to stand with Iraq in the fight against terrorism of Daesh”, added the statement

The recent deployment of Turkish military troops to Bashiqa, near Mosul, caused a diplomatic spat between Ankara and Baghdad.

However, Erdogan reiterated Thursday that Turkey’s presence in northern Iraq was not new. He said that, since 2014, Ankara has been training peshmerga forces – the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government’s army – following a request from Mosul’s governor.

Approximately 150 Turkish soldiers were deployed near Mosul on December 4 to replace training forces already in the area. In addition, 20-25 tanks were also deployed to the region.

Read: Turkish PM: We will not violate Iraq’s sovereignty

Haidar al-Abadi had described the infusion of troops and equipment as a violation of his country’s sovereignty and contrary to good neighbour principles.