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Some Turkish troops stationed near the Iraqi city of Mosul have been withdrawn, officials say, after their deployment caused a diplomatic spat between Baghdad and Ankara.
The troops were carried in a convoy of 10 to 12 military vehicles, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said, quoting military sources. “Some of the Turkish troops stationed in Basheeqa have transited to the north as part of a new arrangement,” it said.
The report did not specify the number of troops, and whether they were moving deeper into northern Iraqi territory controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or heading back to Turkey.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he has taken necessary steps for “new arrangement” of troops, saying presence will continue for military training
The office of KRG President Masoud Barzani told Al Jazeera that the move came after extensive dialogue between the governments of Iraq and Turkey and also after the UN Security Council urged both sides to resolve the matter peacefully.
Turkey has had troops near Mosul, held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in northern Iraq, since last year to help train local Kurdish and Sunni Arab forces, but the arrival of additional troops earlier this month sparked uproar in Baghdad.
Baghdad said the deployment had been carried out without consultation and violated national sovereignty and international law.
Turkey subsequently halted new deployments but has refused to withdraw its soldiers.
Ankara last week sent two of the most powerful men in Turkish foreign policy – foreign ministry under-secretary Feridun Sinirlioglu and intelligence chief Hakan Fidan – to Baghdad in a bid to settle the tensions.
Davutoglu said subsequently an agreement had been reached on a “reorganisation” of the Turkish troops. But it was never made clear what form this would take.
Meanwhile, Russia is carrying out an “ethnic cleansing” in northern Syria against Sunni Arabs and Turkmen, Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said as he stepped up rhetoric against Moscow. “They want to expel, they want to ethnically cleanse this area,” Davutoglu told reporters. He added that Russia wants to protect its bases and strongholds of the Syrian government.
“Their fight is not against Daesh,” the prime minister said, using an acronym for Islamic State.
Tensions between Ankara and Moscow have been on the rise since November 24, when Turkey downed a Russian jet over the Turkish-Syrian border.
Moscow began flying sorties in September to prop up the government of President Bashar Assad in Damascus, whose troops had been at a disadvantage in their fight against rebel groups. – AFP
derick.khumalo