Turkey: No one can object to Turkish presence in Iraq

No one has the right to object to the Turkish military presence in Iraq, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.

Kurtulmus stressed that the Turkish troops in Iraq are not an occupying force, adding: “No one has the right to object Turkey’s presence in Iraq when the country is fragmented that much.”

“It is obvious that the regional administration in northern Iraq and the Barzani administration had asked for [Turkey’s] support and sought help from Turkish troops, especially for training their local forces to rescue Mosul,” Kurtulmus said, in reference to the Kurdish Regional Government.

Iraq’s foreign ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad to protest what it said were “provocative” comments made in Ankara about keeping Turkish troops in northern Iraq, a ministry spokesman said in a statement yesterday.

The Turkish parliament decided last week to extend a mandate that allows military operations against militant organisations in Iraq and Syria for another year.