Skip to main content

Iraq turns to UN Security Council over Turkish incursion

Baghdad: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi has instructed the foreign ministry to lodge a formal complaint at the UN Security Council over an incursion by Turkish troops in the north of the country.
In a statement on his website, Al Abadi asked that the Security Council order Turkey to withdraw its troops from Iraq immediately.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that his country will not withdraw troops from a camp close to the Daesh-controlled city of Mosul, , despite strong objections from Baghdad.
The deployed soldiers are not combat troops, but have been sent to protect soldiers providing training to Iraqi and Kurdish forces, Erdogan told reporters at a news conference that was broadcast live by TRT. Turkey is “determined” to continue the training, he added.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s office said on Friday that Turkey has decided in talks with Iraqi officials to “reorganise” its military personnel at the Bashiqa camp.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu and National Intelligence Agency (MIT) head Hakan Fidan visited Baghdad on Thursday for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Al Abadi on the issue.
“Taking into account the Iraqi government’s sensitivity, the decision was taken to reorganise the military personnel in the protection force at the Bashiqa camp,” Davutoglu’s office said in a statement.
It did not say what the troop reorganisation would involve, but said agreement was reached to start work on creating mechanisms to deepen cooperation with the Iraqi government on security issues.
Davutoglu said on Wednesday the soldiers were sent to northern Iraq after a threat from Daesh militants to Turkish military trainers in the area increased.
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani on Friday criticised the Turkish deployment without Baghdad’s approval.
No country should “send its soldiers to the territory of another state under the pretext of supporting it in fighting terrorism without the conclusion of an agreement... between the governments of the two countries,” Al Sistani said in remarks delivered by a representative at weekly Friday prayers.
Davutoglu has defended the deployment as an “act of solidarity” and said: “When the threats (to the trainers) increased, we sent troops to protect the camp.”
But the base also gives Turkey a foothold in an area where a major ground operation against Daesh is eventually to take place, and where its archfoe, Turkish Kurdish rebel group the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, has also sought to expand its presence.
Al Abadi, whose high-profile reform programme has accomplished little in the way of lasting change, can ill afford another setback now, but repeated calls for a Turkish withdrawal have not led to a pullout.
On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that “it is our duty to address the Baghdad government’s concerns” but indicated that Ankara wanted Iraqi approval for the deployment.
“Especially after starting the fight against (Daesh), threats have increased against Turkey and our forces on the ground. It is the Turkish republic’s duty to ensure our troops’ security,” Cavusoglu said during a live interview on NTV television.
Daesh “still controls around 35 per cent of Iraqi territory. Do you (Iraq) have a force to ensure security of our troops providing training there? No. Then who will protect them? We are discussing this,” he said.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif