Turkey shifts troops in Iraq

ANKARA. — Turkey has shifted some of its troops stationed in a camp near Iraqi city of Mosul to the north close to the Turkish border in order to defuse tensions that flared up recently between Ankara and Baghdad. The move came on the heels of recent spat between the two neighbouring countries over the fresh deployment of Turkish military trainers in Bashiqa Camp near Mosul that prompted an outcry from Baghdad that said it was not notified in advance.

Iraq has immediately demanded Turkey to withdraw its troops, threatened Ankara with the escalation of the matter to the UN security Council. However, Turkey vowed to maintain troops in Iraq as part of training mission for the local forces in their fight with the Islamic State (IS).

On his return from Turkmenistan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Sunday beefing up the camp was necessary to protect Turkish military trainers from raising threat by the IS.

“This threat was not eliminated for us,” he noted. Nevertheless, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday that Turkey has taken steps for a re-arrangement of troops near Mosul without specifying where the troops that departed the camp were heading.

“Our troops will maintain their presence there. There was a shift of troops,” he underlined. The Prime Minister attributed to transfer of some troops out of Bashiqa camp to reassessment of threat without specifying the detail and nature of that threat.

Turkish analysts believe Ankara should have coordinated its troops movement in Iraq with the federal government and leave if necessary and ordered by the legitimate government.

“A partial withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraq was the right step,” Faruk Logoglu, former ambassador, said. He noted that if Iraq wants a complete removal of forces, then Turkey should comply with that request. — Xinhua.