Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.10
By Rufiz Hafizoglu-Trend:
Ankara and Baghdad will discuss the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq during the Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu's visit to the country Dec.10, Anadolu agency reported.
During his visit to Iraq, Davutoglu will be accompanied by Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey's National Intelligence Service. The decision to visit Iraq was adopted by Turkey after the controversy arisen between Ankara and Baghdad about the presence of Turkish troops in the Iraqi province of Nineveh, near the city of Mosul.
Turkish Armed Forces' tank battalion deployed in the Iraqi province of Nineveh tasked to prepare Kurdish Peshmerga military forces to fight the IS terrorist organization (ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) in the framework of an agreement with the Iraqi authorities.
Baghdad accused Turkey of military invasion and demanded the Turkish troops to left the country. A number of Iraqi MPs demanded from the authorities to launch a military operation against the Turkish troops.
This is while earlier Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Ankara is not going to send new military units to Iraq, and also bring out the already existing military contingent.
Iraq also reportedly said it will impose economic sanctions on Ankara in response to the fact that Turkey doesn't bring out the tank battalion from the Iraqi province of Nineveh. To sign any contracts with Turkish companies can be prohibited for Iraqi companies as a part of the economic sanctions.
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