Roundup: Baghdad uneasy over presence of Turkish troops in northern Iraq

Fresh deployment of some 150 new Turkish troops at a military camp located near Mosul has strained the ties between Turkey and Iraq with Baghdad asking Ankara to withdraw them immediately.

Over the weekend, Turkey dispatched new troops to replace the ones deployed at a military camp in the town of Bashiqa in Mosul province in northern Iraq.

The camp was set up a year ago by Turkey to train Kurdish peshmerga and local Arab forces in their fight against the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Iraqi President Fouad Massoum on Saturday called the deployment of Turkish troops a violation of international norms and law.

He asked the government to take the necessary measures "to preserve the country's sovereignty and independence."

Responding to criticisms, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the troops were training local forces against the IS and the movement was a routine operation.

"Nobody should draw wrong conclusions from our assistance," he cautioned.

Davutoglu said troops are part of assistance provided to the regional government in Northern Iraq to protect the territorial integrity, stability and peace in Iraq.

The Turkish prime minister underlined that "Turkey has no designs on any country's land."

Neverthless, Iraq's Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad to protest at the deployment of Turkish forces and demanded their immediate withdrawal.

The ministry said in a statement that the Turkish forces had entered Iraqi territory without the knowledge of the central government in Baghdad, and that Iraq considered such presence "a hostile act".

Turkey has been providing training to Kurdish forces in three different locations throughout the autonomous Kurdish region in agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government.

It has trained 2500 Kurdish and 100 Arab troops so far. The training was instrumental for Kurdish forces in retaking Yazidi-majority town Sinjar from the IS last month.

Major General Karaman Kemal Onder who is responsible from operations in peshmerga forces said the training given by Turkish troops helped the Kurdish forces play a determining role in the liberation of Sinjar.

He said Kurdish local government asked of Turkey to continue providing training to peshmerga forces.

The renewal of training agreement with Kurdistan Regional Government was signed by the visiting then-Turkish foreign minister Feridun Sinirlioglu in Erbil on 4 November 2015.

Turkey has also deployed some 20 MT-60 tanks in the camp located at Bashiqa to beef up the security for the troops stationed there.

According to Davutoglu, the training has been launched at the invitation of Mosul governorate and coordinated through Iraq's Defense Ministry.

Kurdish Regional Government spokesperson Sefin Dizayi also confirmed in a statement that Turkey set up two training camps in Erbil and Suleymaniye last year to provide training to peshmerga forces and another one in Mosul to train other forces.

He said recent troops movement by Turkey is aimed to turn the camp in Mosul into a more active base.

The Turkish prime minister said Turkey is ready to provide all kind of support to Iraqi national army and police force as well.

Davutoglu is expected to visit Baghdad to hold intergovernmental conference called High Level Strategic Council that was set up with Iraq in 2008.

No announcement was made when it will be held.

Iraqi Defense Minister is also expected to come to Turkey before Davutoglu's visit. Enditem