MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On December 4, Turkey deployed about 150 troops and 25 tanks to a base in the Iraqi Nineveh province, without Baghdad’s approval.
"Prime Minister Haider Abadi instructs the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit a formal complaint by the Iraqi government on the Turkish incursion… and to demand from the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Charter… and to order Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately," the statement read.
According to Ankara, the aim of the deployment was to provide security to Turkish soldiers deployed earlier to train Kurdish militia who are fighting the Islamic State (ISIL, or Daesh in Arabic), a group outlawed in a number of countries, including Russia.
Iraq has rejected the claims, stressing that the Turkish military presence had not been requested.
