Turkey to Have Permanent Military Base Near Iraq’s Mosul - Reports

Turkey will have a permanent military base near the Iraqi province of Mosul Bashiqah, where Turkish troops are training Iraqi Kurdish fighters (Peshmerga), the Hurriyet Daily News reported on Saturday.

According to the publication, the agreement regarding the base was signed between the Iraqi Kurdistan leader Massoud Barzani and Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu on November 4 during the latter's visit to Northern Iraq.

At least 150 Turkish soldiers, accompanied by 20-25 tanks, were deployed to the area on Dec. 4, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.

A scandal between Turkey and Iraq has erupted as more than a hundred Turkish soldiers had been deployed to Mosul earlier in the day without the approval of the Iraqi Kurdish leadership.

Baghdad has called on Ankara to "immediately" withdraw its forces, including tanks and artillery, which it has deployed in the country's northern Ninawa province, allegedly on a training mission, without Baghdad's consent, according to a full statement from the press service of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi obtained by RIA Novosti.

The Iraqi authorities called on Turkey to "respect good neighborly relations" and "immediately withdraw its military from the territory of Iraq."