14 December 2015•Update: 15 December 2015
BAGHDAD/ANKARA
Iraq's Oil Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said Sunday that treating Turkey like an enemy, due to its military presence in northern Iraq, will not benefit his country.
On Dec. 4, approximately 150 Turkish soldiers and about 25 tanks were sent to a camp near the town of Bashiqa - located northeast of Mosul in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province - to provide training to Iraqi volunteers as part of the fight against the Daesh militant group.
The deployment led to the current tension between Ankara and Baghdad, with the latter asserting that Turkey violated Iraqi sovereignty. Last week, Baghdad demanded that Ankara withdraw the recently-deployed troops.
"Due to its presence in Mosul, treating Turkey like an enemy state, suspending political and trade relations, is not right. This will not help Iraq defend its sovereignty," Mahdi said.
Since March, Turkey has been operating a training program in the camp. Turkish troops currently deployed in the camp have not been assigned combat duties.
Defining Iraqi government's steps towards Turkey as "stable," he described Turkey's military involvement in northern Iraq as "complicated."
"We have to handle this situation with great care, and solve the issues without deepening them. We shouldn't shift the direction of Iraq away from the ongoing fighting against Daesh," Mahdi added.
A Turkish military source said Monday that some of the Turkish troops and an unspecified number of tanks that were deployed at the Bashiqa camp have been withdrawn to another part of northern Iraq.
