White House: Obama Calls for Withdrawal of Turkish Forces from Iraq

The White House says that Barack Obama, the President of the United States, requested the withdrawal of Turkish military forces from northern Iraq during a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. According to AFP, the White House announced on Friday, December 18, that Obama asked Erdoğan to take further steps to reduce tensions with Iraq, including continuing the withdrawal of Turkish military forces from Iraq. The report states that Obama also emphasized the necessity for Turkey to respect Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty. The Iraqi government has called for the complete withdrawal of Turkish forces from the north of the country, stressing that the withdrawal of some Turkish troops is insufficient. Following reports of the deployment of a Turkish armored battalion to the 'Bashika' camp, located 30 kilometers northeast of Mosul in Nineveh province, tensions between Baghdad and Ankara escalated. Iraq considers the presence of Turkish forces in this camp a violation of its sovereignty and international law and has complained to the United Nations Security Council. Meanwhile, Turkey criticized Iraq's action of complaining to the UN Security Council, accusing Baghdad of 'undermining and diminishing the global fight against ISIS.' Reports indicate that fifteen members of the Security Council held a meeting on Friday at the request of Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq's foreign minister, to prepare for the approval of a resolution on this matter. Turkey claims that these forces were deployed with the permission of the central Iraqi government to train volunteer forces fighting against the Islamic State in 2014. Earlier, there were reports about the withdrawal of some Turkish forces from the 'Bashika' camp.