Iraq urges Arab League emergency meeting on Turkey invasion
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has requested an emergency meeting of top diplomats from the Arab League to adopt a united position vis-a-vis Turkey’s illegal deployment of troops to northern Iraqi territories.
The ministry said in a Thursday statement that it has submitted a request to the Arab League for an emergency meeting of foreign ministers to examine Turkey’s deployment last Friday of hundreds of troops and heavy weaponry to areas around the city of Mosul, which is now occupied by the Takfiri group Daesh.
Iraq has strongly condemned the deployment, branding it as a blatant violation of its sovereignty. Iraqi officials have threatened to take action against Turkey with the United Nations Security Council.
The Thursday statement said the Arab League members could discuss during an emergency meeting “the consequences of this violation" and adopt a position on it.
It said Iraq's Foreign Ministry is also making contacts with the five permanent members of the UNSC and other countries “to gather international support for issuing a Security Council resolution condemning this violation.”
Iraqi foreign minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, attended a special session of the Iraqi parliament earlier in the day to brief the lawmakers on the case. The Iraqi parliament's security and defense committee has summoned the Turkish ambassador to seek explanation over Turkey’s refusal to pull out the troops by the December 8 deadline set by Iraq.
Officials in Ankara have resisted the call for withdrawal, claiming the deployment was in line with previous agreements with Baghdad to train Kurdish and other paramilitary forces in the fight against Daesh.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that he has no plans for pulling out troops in north Iraq.
“Withdrawal is out of the question for the time being,” he said, adding that officials from Turkey, the United States and the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq will gather on December 21 to discuss the situation in north Iraq.
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