Americas...:US to Turkey: Withdraw Unauthorized Troops from ...

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US to Turkey: Withdraw Unauthorized Troops from Iraq

Local Editor

The US urged Turkey to withdraw its unauthorized military forces from northern Iraq, calling on Ankara to respect the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

US Vice President Joe Biden has spoken to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi regarding Turkey's troop deployments.

"The Vice President reaffirmed the United States' commitment to Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity and called on Turkey to do the same by withdrawing any military forces from Iraqi territory that have not been authorized by the Iraqi government," the White House said in a statement.

The call between Biden and al-Abadi came two days after the Vice President's talk with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Stressing Washington's commitment to close cooperation with both Iraq and Turkey in the fight against "ISIS", Biden urged Ankara to continue its dialogue with Baghdad.

"The Vice President reiterated that any foreign military presence in Iraq must be with the full consent of the Iraq government," read a statement from the White House on December 14.

Relations between Ankara and Baghdad began to unravel following Turkey's December 4 deployment of about 150 soldiers backed by artillery and around 25 tanks to Camp Bashiqa, a base near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that is controlled by IS. The move was protested by both the Iraqi government and thousands of its citizens across the country.

This comes as the United States military announced it started withdrawing a dozen fighter jets from an air base in Turkey almost a month after a Turkish air force plane shot down a Russian jet near the Syrian border.

US European Command announced on Wednesday that the US military will move 12 F-15 aircraft from Turkey's Incirlik Air Base back to their base in Britain.

Officials said they consider sending other attack planes to Turkey.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team