Ankara: Not All Iraqis Back Parliament’s Resolution Against Turkish Military

A resolution adopted by the Iraqi parliament that criticizes the Turkish military presence at the Bashiqa base in northern Iraq does not represent the opinion of all Iraqis, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — Turkey's parliament voted last week to extend its military presence in Iraq for a year to confront terrorist organizations. Baghdad responded on Tuesday night by condemning the vote and calling for Turkey to pull its estimated 2,000 troops out of areas across northern Iraq, saying Ankara should not intervene in Iraqi affairs.

"First of all, we don’t regard the statement of the Iraqi Parliament about the annually renewed motion in the Turkish parliament as well-intentioned. We very well know that this does not reflect the thinking of all of the Iraqi people," Cavusoglu said at a press conference with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic Wednesday.

He underlined that Iraq could not maintain its own security and stability now, while forces at the Bashiqa camp have killed more than 750 Daesh militants so far.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi has warned of a potential regional war if the Turkish soldiers remain. However, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus argued that no one had the right to object to Turkey’s presence in Iraq because the country was extremely fragmented.