- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Erdogan Refuses to Cooperate With Anti-Daesh Intelligence HQ

© REUTERS / Darren WhitesideTurkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at a joint media briefing with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo at the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia July 31, 2015
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at a joint media briefing with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo at the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia July 31, 2015 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Turkey's government refused the invitation to join the center set up in Baghdad to exchange intelligence on terrorists that pose a threat to the region, the Turkish president said in an interview on Saturday.

Iraqi security forces, supported by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, advance their position through damaged buildings towards the central Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015 - Sputnik International
Iraqi Forces Enter Central Area of Ramadi Captured by Daesh
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told al-Arabiya television that his government refuses to cooperate with the intelligence center set up in Baghdad by the governments of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia to exchange information on the Daesh terrorist group.

"Syria, Iran, Iraq and Russia have formed a quartet of allies and asked Turkey to join them, but I told President Putin that I can't sit next to a President (Assad) whose legitimacy raises doubts," Erdogan told the interviewer.

In September it emerged that Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia had set up the information center in Baghdad to collect and analyze intelligence on Daesh and other militant Islamic groups in the Middle East. The center is run by military representatives from each country, who will each head the center on a three month rotational basis.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Co-Leader of Peoples' Democratic Party of Turkey Selahattin Demirtas meet in Moscow - Sputnik International
World
Russian Welcome for Turkey's Kurdish Leader Turns Up Heat on Erdogan
The Turkish president was also asked about the incursion of a 25 tank battalion and around 150 Turkish troops into northern Iraq at the beginning of December. The Iraqi government demanded the immediate withdrawal of the troops and complained to the UN Security Council about the military action, which it called a violation of Iraq's sovereignty.

Erdogan replied that the Turkish forces are there at the request of the Iraqi government.

"When ISIS (Daesh) entered Iraq, the Iraqis asked us to help, and we said we were ready to do so. We asked them to find a place to establish our base, and they did. Everything began in March last year, and in March we were allocated the area of Bashiqa," said the Turkish president, who began to withdraw some of the troops on December 14.

On Thursday the Arab League condemned Turkey's deployment of its armed forces in northern Iraq.

"The council denounces the Turkish military incursion into Iraq as an aggression against Iraqi sovereignty and a threat to the Arab national security," stated the Arab League following an emergency meeting of the organization in Cairo.

It demanded the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Turkish troops from Iraqi territory.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала