Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 14
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkey is withdrawing a part of its tank battalion from Iraq, the Anadolu Agency has reported.
The tank battalion of the Turkish army is currently stationed in Iraq's Nineveh province to train militia there for fighting the IS terrorist group (aka ISIS, ISIL or Daesh).
The deployment of troops to Iraq, as Turkey said, was agreed with Baghdad. However, Iraqi authorities have accused Ankara of a military intervention and demanded that the forces leave the country.
Earlier, a number of Iraqi MPs demanded from the authorities to launch a military operation against the Turkish troops.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ankara doesn't intend to dispatch new forces to Iraq or take out the military contingent that is already in the country.
Iraq also reportedly said it will impose economic sanctions on Ankara in response to Turkey's not withdrawing the tank battalion from Nineveh.
Edited by SI