Iraq: Turkish Ambassador Summoned over Mosul Troops

Iraq’s foreign ministry has summoned the Turkish ambassador to demand the withdrawal of Turkish troops sent to an area near the northern city of Mosul.

According to the Iraqi foreign ministry, the troops had entered Iraq without Baghdad’s consent and that Iraq considered it “a hostile act”.

Turkey says it deployed 150 soldiers in the town of Bashiqa year to train Iraqi Kurdish forces fighting ISIS.

Mosul has been under the control of ISIS militants since 2014.

Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu described the deployment as a routine troop rotation. He said Turkish forces had set up a camp near Mosul a year ago in co-ordination with Iraq.

“This camp was established as a training camp for a force of local volunteers fighting terrorism,” he said.

Earlier, Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi’s office said the move was a “serious breach of Iraqi sovereignty”.

The statement called on Turkey to “respect good neighborly relations and to withdraw immediately from the Iraqi territory”.

Turkey enjoys close relations with autonomous Kurdish regions in Iraq, although it views Syrian Kurdish groups over the border as hostile, analysts say.

The fall of Mosul was a key moment in the rise of ISIS and an Iraqi government offensive to retake the city has been repeatedly put back.