Turkish PM visits Iraq amid spat over unauthorized troops

Sputnik
Sat, 07 Jan 2017 18:40 UTC

© AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi

Yildrim arrived on an official two-day visit in the Iraqi capital earlier in the day, accompanied by a senior delegation, and is also expected to meet Iraqi President Fuad Masum, Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri as well as Iraqi Kurdistan's government, the Anadolu news agency reported.

Relations between Turkey and Iraq deteriorated after Turkey dispatched its troops in Iraq in late 2015 on the pretext of helping the Iraqi militia fight Islamic State (IS, banned in Russia), without the Iraqi government's consent.

In October, the Turkish parliament extended a mandate allowing Turkish troops to be deployed in Iraq and Syria to combat terrorists for another year.

Following this step, the Iraqi parliament adopted a resolution voicing protest against Turkish military presence in the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq, located about 19 miles northeast of Mosul. The lawmakers call on the government to take necessary legal and diplomatic measures, including a review of the economic relations between the two countries. Ankara has condemned the resolution.

Comment: Ankara agreed to meet the Iraqi demand, namely, to withdraw troops from the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq, Abadi said in the follow up to the closed-door meeting in Baghdad, as cited by the Al Sumaria broadcaster.