Iraq will fight Turkey to keep its sovereignty – Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
(IraqiNews.com) Baghdad – Iraq’s Foreign Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, warned that it will consider military action if Turkey does not comply with Baghdad’s latest demand to withdraw troops from a northern camp where they are training anti-ISIS fighters.
Ankara earlier this month deployed Turkish troops to northern Iraq to train a Sunni Muslim militia to fight ISIS. The deployment outraged Baghdad, which claims the move violates Iraq’s sovereignty.
On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that Turkey had not honored a commitment to withdraw its troops from the region.
Abadi said in a statement that a Turkish delegation to Iraq promised to announce, upon returning to Ankara, that Turkey would withdraw its troops, “but the Turkish government has not respected the agreement and we request that the Turkish government announce immediately that it will withdraw from Iraqi territory.”
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Wednesday said that “Iraq will use peaceful dialogue in order to avoid crisis”, but warned that if “fighting is imposed on us, we will consider it [necessary] to protect our sovereignty, people and resources.”
“When Iraq’s sovereignty is violated we should move to restore it, because Iraq has its own history and sovereignty,” pointing out that, “Iraqi forces had liberated Ramadi and that it is capable to fight any battle.”
“Iraq is keen to keep good relations with Turkey and all of its neighboring countries, as well as all the countries of the world,” Jaafari continued.
In response, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday said that if Baghdad wants to use force, it should be against ISIS.