Turkey’s PM Insists Turkish Troops Will Not Be Withdrawn from Iraq. Erdogan Rules Out Troops’ Withdrawal from Iraq

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8mdMRIUHFM]

• Published on Dec 10, 2015
  Turkey remains defiant despite international criticism of its troop deployment to northern Iraq. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu defended the move as a necessary measure to help Baghdad in the fight against Daesh. In a meeting with president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region Massud Barzani, Davutoglu claimed the troops were training local Iraqis and protecting Turkey’s military trainers. He once again insisted that those already stationed near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul will stay but there will not be any new deployment. Iraq says the recent deployment of hundreds of Turkish troops into its territory was a grave violation of its sovereignty.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QszlCUj8LfY]

• Published on Dec 10, 2015
  Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says there’s no way that Ankara would withdraw its troops from neighboring Iraq and the issue is out of question. According to Erdogan, Turkish boots are on the ground in northern Iraq to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces and not for a combat mission. He added that officials from Turkey, the United States and the government of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region will hold a meeting on December 21. However, he failed to elaborate if the Iraqi authorities would attend the talks. Tensions have been rising between Ankara and Baghdad since December 4, when about 150 Turkish troops and tanks were deployed to a base in Nineveh province, without Baghdad’s approval. The Iraqi government has asked Turkey to pull out its forces, warning that it would take the case to the UN Security Council.

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