Images Show Turkey Covertly Constructing Airbase in Northern Iraq

Turkey is building an airbase in Northern Iraq without the knowledge of the central government in Baghdad, images show.

Images taken by field sources in Iraq display construction of an illegal airbase named ‘Bamerne’ by the Turkish army in Northern Iraq.

The airbase is being built at the geographical coordinates of 37°05′52″N and 43°15′58″E which corresponds to a region in Dahuk, Northern Iraq.

Turkey sent approximately 130-150 soldiers to Northern Iraq on Friday. Ankara claims that its forces that are deployed near the city of Mosul are tasked with training Peshmerga, which has been involved in the fight against the ISIL, but the troops have been sent there without the permission and even the knowledge of the Baghdad government.

But Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi warned on Sunday that Baghdad might use all the available options, including an address to the UN Security Council, if Turkey fails to withdraw its troops from Northern Iraq within 48 hours,.

“Iraq has the right to use all available options, including resorting to the UN Security Council in the absence of the withdrawal of these forces within 48 hours,” Abadi said in a statement following the National Security Council meeting.

According to the prime minister, the deployment of hundreds of Turkish servicemen on the Iraqi territory without the consent and knowledge of the Iraqi authorities is a violation of sovereignty and a breach of the principles of good neighborliness.

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