Mosul gap remains between Turkey, Iraq

The gap between Ankara and Baghdad over the deployment of Turkish troops to a base near Mosul continues to widen, with the Iraqi Foreign Ministry set to lodge a formal complaint at the U.N. Security Council and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an vowing that those forces will not be pulled back. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has instructed the Iraqi Foreign Ministry to lodge a complaint at the U.N. Security Council over "an incursion by Turkish troops in the north of the country," according to a statement released on the prime ministry's website on Dec. 11. 

The statement describes the act as a "flagrant violation of the provisions and principles of the U.N. Charter," adding that it is in "violation of the sanctity of Iraqi territory and the sovereignty of the Iraqi state." It reiterates al-Abadi's claims that the deployment was made without the knowledge and approval of the Iraqi authorities, while also calling on the U.N. Security Council to "assume its responsibilities." 

One day before the order, al-Abadi said the "crisis" over the deployment of Turkish troops at the Bashiqa camp near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul could only be solved with the "full withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraqi territory."

The latest statement came after a visit to Baghdad on Dec. 10 by a Turkish delegation headed by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlio?lu and National Intelligence Organization (M?T) Chief Hakan Fidan.

The withdrawal of Turkish forces would pave the way for "positive relations, coordination and cooperation between the two neighboring countries in various fields," the statement also said.

'No withdrawal of troops'

However, President Erdo?an again vowed on Dec. 11 that Turkey would...