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UN chief calls on Turkey, Iraq to ease situation through dialogue

Xinhua, December 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday called on Turkey and Iraq to de-escalate tensions over Turkish troops deployment in northern Iraq, his spokesman said.

Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson of the UN chief told Xinhua that Ban "hopes that the Governments of Turkey and Iraq will step up their efforts to de-escalate the situation through constructive dialogue."

The crisis between the two countries sparked earlier this month when reports said a Turkish training battalion equipped with armored vehicles was deployed near the city of Mosul to train Iraqi paramilitary groups in fighting the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militant group.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Friday instructed the Foreign Ministry to lodge an official complaint to the UN Security Council over the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq.

A statement by Abadi's office said the incursion by Turkish troops "is blatant violation of the provisions and principles of the UN Charter and a violation to the sovereignty of the Iraqi state, which happened without the knowledge and consent of the Iraqi authorities."

Haq said that Ban's Special Representative for Iraq Jan Kubis "has been actively engaging all parties concerned and playing a good offices role to promote mutual understanding between the two sides."

Ban hopes Iraq and Turkey can move past the incident and "refocus their attention to fighting Da'esh (Islamic State)", noting that "they have much to gain if they work together in this regard," according to Haq.

On Tuesday, a closed-door talks was held in the UN Security Council over Turkey's military operation in Iraq. By far, there has not been any scheduled meeting on the issue. Enditem