Turkish PM Says Wants to Visit Baghdad amid Row over Troops
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday he wanted to visit Baghdad as soon as possible to try to calm a row over Turkish troops deployed to train their Iraqi counterparts in the fight against ISIL (also known as Daesh).
Turkey has halted the deployment of troops to northern Iraq for now but will not withdraw those already there, Turkey's foreign ministry said on Tuesday, after Baghdad demanded the withdrawal of soldiers sent to near the ISIL-held city of Mosul.
In a phone conversation with his Iraqi counterpart late on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated Ankara's respect for Iraq's territorial integrity, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters, according to Reuters.
Turkey says its latest deployment of soldiers to northern Iraq is part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi forces. The Iraqi government says it never invited such a force and will take its case to the United Nations if they are not pulled out.
Seperately, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he wanted to visit Baghdad as soon as possible to try to calm the row over the troop deployment.
Turkish troops were in Iraq to protect against a possible attack from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and those who interpreted their presence differently were involved in "deliberate provocation", Davutoglu said in a speech to his party in parliament.
He also said Ankara had discussed possible measures against Russia at a cabinet meeting on Monday and will impose sanctions if needed, while remaining open to talks with Moscow.
Russia has hit Turkey with a raft of sanctions after the Turkish air force shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border last month. Davutoglu made the comments.
