In a phone call December 18, Obama urged Erdogan to "take additional steps to de-escalate tensions," which have soared in the last month after Baghdad accused Ankara of sending troop reinforcements to a training camp near Mosul without its permission.
Erdogan has resisted Iraq's calls for complete withdrawal of the troops, but has transferred some of them to Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region, which has welcomed them.
Four of the Turkish trainers were wounded in an attack by the Islamic State (IS) group this week, lending credence to Turkey's contention that reinforcements were needed to protect the training camp because of the danger posed by IS.
The White House said both leaders agreed about the need to cooperate in fighting IS and pursuing a resolution to Syria's civil war.
Obama's outreach followed similar calls earlier this week by Vice President Joe Biden to the leaders of Iraq and Turkey.
(Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and Reuters)
[rferl.org]
19/12/15
--
-
Related:
EE.UU. reconoce que Turquía envió tropas a Irak sin consentimiento del Gobierno Iraquí
ISIL fires rockets at Iraq base where Turkish troops stationed
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Readout of the President’s Call with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey...
ReplyDelete"The President spoke by phone today with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to discuss the current dispute between Turkey and Iraq over recent Turkish military moves in northern Iraq. The President urged President Erdogan to take additional steps to deescalate tensions with Iraq, including by continuing to withdraw Turkish military forces, and reinforced the need for Turkey to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq. To this end, the two leaders agreed to work together on diplomatic efforts between the United States, Turkey, and Iraq to reduce tensions and to coordinate military efforts against ISIL. The President stressed the value of Turkish contributions to the Counter-ISIL campaign, and the two leaders also discussed intensifying cooperation on Syria, including joint efforts to strengthen the moderate Syrian opposition and step up pressure on ISIL, as well as continued efforts to create conditions for a negotiated solution to the conflict."
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/12/18/readout-presidents-call-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan-turkey
18/12/15