ROME (Sputnik) — Russia believes that Turkey's actions in northern Iraq are an illegal invasion, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Sunday.
“We believe that what is happening in northern Iraq is illegal actions of Turkey, as it is an invasion of the territory of a neighborig state, and on such a scale that it is hard to justify with arguments about preparation, training and so on. So we are concerned about it,” Gatilov told reporters.
On December 4, 2015, Turkey deployed about 150 troops and 25 tanks to a base in the Nineveh province of Iraq, without Baghdad’s approval. Allegedly, the move was made to train Kurdish militia fighting against Daesh.
Iraq rejected the claims saying that Turkey’s military presence was not requested and authorized, and filed a complaint with the UN Security Council demanding an immediate withdrawal of the troops.
