Abadi Urges NATO To Press Turkey To Pull Troops From Iraq

Iraq has asked NATO to put pressure on alliance member Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately from northern Iraq.

"NATO must use its authority to urge Turkey to withdraw immediately from Iraqi territory," Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said in a December 8 statement.

Abadi spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg by telephone, the statement said, calling the deployment a violation of Iraq's sovereignty.

Ankara says its troops are near the city of Mosul to train Iraqi forces. It also says it won’t deploy any more, but refused to pull out those already there.

"Training at this camp began with the knowledge of the Iraqi Defense Ministry and police," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.

Russia called the deployment of Turkish forces in Iraq without Baghdad's approval “unacceptable.”
  (Based on reporting by Reuters and dpa)
[rferl.org]
9/12/15
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