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In Iraq, demands continue for Turkish troops to leave the country.
Iraqi PMU English
RT adds:
Dorrian announced during a briefing in Baghdad that Turkey is operating “on its own” in Iraq, AP quoted him as saying. The coalition position is that every unit “should be here with the coordination or and with the permission of the government of Iraq,” he is also quoted as saying.
The issue arose at yesterday's Pentagon press briefing moderated by spokesperson Peter Cook.
Q: There have been some reports coming from Iraq claiming that Colonel Dorrian called Turkish military presence in northern Iraq as evil and called Turks as invaders.
I got a statement from here saying that these are false, but I wonder about the Pentagon's general assessment -- of the Pentagon itself about Turkish armed forces presence in northern Iraq.
MR. COOK: Again, you -- you -- my understanding is that the question about the words that were represented, that was not factually correct as to what Colonel Dorrian said.
Our views on this should be well known. And this is something for the Turkish government and the government of Iraq to speak to. And -- and we would urge them, those two governments, to speak to this issue and the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq. This is something that we feel those two governments should be able to speak to most directly.
And the view of the United States has been that, of course, the sovereign territory of Iraq -- that the Iraqi government should be able to speak to foreign troops on its soil. And that's something that -- again, this is a sovereign issue for the government of Iraq.
Q: You -- (inaudible) -- some kind of -- by saying this is sovereign right of Iraqi government to, you know, to decide about foreign troops on its territories.
So do you imply that Turks are there without request or knowledge or consent of the Iraqi government? Have you spoke to any of the parties about the issue?
MR. COOK: This is -- this is an issue for the government of Turkey and the government of Iraq to speak to. The government of Iraq can answer that question. That's not something I can answer from this podium. And again, we are -- the coalition of which Turkey is a member, is focused very much on -- on ridding Iraq of -- of the ISIL threat; Syria as well.
And that's -- will remain our focus and we think there's ample opportunity for the coalition to work very closely with the government of Iraq to achieve that goal.
Iraq wants Turkish troops off its soil.
They have appealed the matter to the United Nations Security Council.
Majeed Gly (RUDAW) quotes United Nations spokesperson Farhan Haq stating, "Any support to Iraq must conform to the principles of UN charter notably the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference. The Secretary General hopes the government of Turkey will ensure that all activities in Iraq are conducted with full consent of the government of Iraq."
That seems pretty clear.
Apparently not to officials in Turkey.
AFP quotes Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildrim stating, "No matter what the Iraqi government in Baghdad says, a Turkish presence will remain there to fight against [ISIS], and to avoid any forceful change of the demographic composition in the region."
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