Russia says Turkey troop deployment 'unlawful incursion'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called Turkey’s deployment of troops in northern Iraq an "unlawful incursion,” voicing his country’s support for the Arab country’s sovereignty.
Lavrov held a telephone conversation with his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Saturday to discuss rising tensions between Ankara and Baghdad over Turkey’s move last week to deploy troops around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"The Russian side expressed its firm position in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq," the statement added.
On December 4, the Turkish military deployed hundreds of troops as well as heavy weaponry to the camp of Bashiqa near the Iraqi city of Mosul, which has been under the control of the Daesh Takfiri terrorists since June 2014.
Iraq on Friday lodged an official complaint with the United Nations Security Council, demanding an immediate and unconditional removal of all Turkish forces. Baghdad’s appeal came as the Turkish government missed a deadline set by Iraq to pull out the troops from Bashiqa.
Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of the capital, Baghdad, on Saturday to condemn Turkey’s illegal deployment of troops to the northern territory of their country.
In a Friday statement addressed to “Iraqi people and friends all over the world,” Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi reiterated his strong condemnation of Turkey’s troop deployment, saying Baghdad does not consider it an anti-terror move but a flagrant violation of the Arab country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
On Wednesday, Russia’s Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin also slammed Turkey’s controversial troop deployment to Iraq as “reckless and inexplicable.”
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