Salahaddin

Ankara and Baghdad have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at facilitating the voluntary return of Iraqi citizens from Türkiye, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry.

Northern Iraq, one of the most oil-rich regions in the world, faces a fuel shortage after militants from the Islamic State (IS), formally known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), overran large parts of the country, including a key refinery.

Some 60 foreign workers, including 15 Turkish citizens, have been kidnapped by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq on June 17, an eyewitness told Doğan News Agency.

A day after Iranian President Hasan Rouhani called on Turkey to jointly fight against regional extremist terrorism for the stability of both countries and of the Middle East region, jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh, including Mosul, and were heading toward the province of Salahaddin, on the road to Baghdad.   

Iraq's prime minister has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency after Islamist militants effectively took control of Mosul, the country's second-largest city, and much of its province of Nineveh June 9, in another blow to the authorities, who appear incapable of stopping rebel advances.