48-Hour Deadline from Abadi to Ankara; Turkey to Halt Troop Deployment to Northern Iraq

After the Prime Minister of Iraq threatened Ankara that if its forces did not withdraw from northern Iraq, he would bring the matter to the UN Security Council, Turkey announced on Sunday, December 6, that it would stop sending troops to a camp near Mosul. According to Reuters, Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Prime Minister of Turkey, emphasized in a letter to Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, that his country would halt troop deployment to the training camp in northern Mosul. However, he did not respond to the Iraqi government's request for the withdrawal of Turkish forces from northern Iraq in this letter. Ahmet Davutoğlu stated, "No new troops will be sent to the Bashiqa camp until Iraq's concerns are addressed." A source in the Turkish Prime Minister's office told Reuters that Davutoğlu called for greater cooperation between Ankara and Baghdad in this letter. In recent days, reports of a Turkish armored brigade moving to the Bashiqa camp in northern Mosul in Iraq's Nineveh province have caused tensions between Ankara and Baghdad. Yesterday, Iraq described Turkey's actions as contrary to good neighborliness and international norms, demanding the withdrawal of Turkish forces from its territory. Meanwhile, Turkey claims that these forces are present in coordination with the central Iraqi government to train troops for the liberation of Mosul, and the deployment of new troops is a normal rotation. On Sunday, Haider al-Abadi warned Turkey in a statement that if its forces were not withdrawn from Iraqi territory within the next 48 hours, he would file a complaint with the UN Security Council. The Prime Minister of Iraq clarified that the number and size of Turkish forces are not important; rather, such a presence in Iraqi territory is unacceptable. In al-Abadi's statement, it is mentioned: "If these forces are not withdrawn from Iraqi territory within the next 48 hours, Iraq has the right to use all available means, including filing a complaint with the UN Security Council." Previously, Turkey stated that the Bashiqa training camp, located 30 kilometers northeast of Mosul, was established in coordination with the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and the Mosul governorate. The city of Mosul, with a population of over one million, was captured by the Islamic State group last summer. Since then, Iraqi officials have announced the possibility of starting operations to liberate this city, but for various reasons, such operations have been postponed until now.