Iraq–Turkey relations

Sevil Erku?sevil.erkus@hurriyet.com.trA number of Turkish troops stationed at Bashiqa Camp near Mosul on Dec. 14 were transferred to a region under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, Turkish sources told Hürriyet Daily News.

Iraq appealed to the United Nations Security Council on Dec. 11 to demand an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all Turkish troops from northern Iraq, calling Turkey's military incursion a "flagrant violation" of international law. 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said the solution of the Iraqi-Turkey "crisis" over the deployment of Turkish troops near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul could only be solved with a "full withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraqi territory."

Iraq's ambassador to the UN on Dec. 8 appeared to play down a dispute between Baghdad and Ankara over the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, saying bilateral talks between the neighboring states to end the row were proceeding favorably.

Iraq asked NATO on Dec. 8 to put pressure on alliance member Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately from northern Iraq after Ankara said it would not deploy any more but refused to pull out those already there.

Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani will visit Turkey on Dec. 9, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu stated on Dec. 7. 

Turkey will deploy thermal cameras and horse-back patrols to heighten security around key oil and gas pipelines as the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) increase, in a bid to safeguard energy supplies in the import-dependent country, energy officials said. 

Eight Iraqi civilians were killed in Turkish air strikes in northern Iraq last week, legislators from Turkey's pro-Kurdish party have said.

AP is reporting that this claim made by the legislators who returned from a three-day fact-finding mission in northern Iraq, "disputes the Turkish military's claim that the area struck was a camp used by Kurdish rebels."

A senior Turkish foreign minister has paid a snap visit to Arbil to hold talks with the leaders of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq after the Turkish army's strikes on outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets in the region. 

Turkey and Iraq inked an agreement to increase Iraq's daily oil exports via Turkey's Ceyhan port, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z said Jan. 18.

"We have agreed with Baghdad to reach 550,000 barrels per day, or bpd," he said during a press conference in Baghdad, as reported by Reuters.