US Pledges to Facilitate Turkish Troops Withdrawal From Iraq - Source

A diplomatic source told Sputnik that Washington promised Baghdad to facilitate withdrawal of the Turkish forces from the Iraqi territory.

BAGHDAD (Sputnik) — Washington promised Baghdad to facilitate withdrawal of the Turkish forces from the Iraqi territory and asked Iraq not to raise the issue at the UN Security Council, a diplomatic source told Sputnik on Thursday.

"The United States asked Iraq to postpone requests for setting a specific date at the UN Security Council to discuss the Turkish intervention in Iraq, because they will handle the issue and call on Turkey to withdraw its troops immediately from Iraq," the source said.

On October 4, the Iraqi parliament adopted a resolution voicing a protest against Turkish military presence in the town of Bashiqa, located about 19 miles northeast of Mosul. The lawmakers demanded that the Iraqi authorities take necessary legal and diplomatic measures, including a review of the economic relations between the two countries. Ankara has condemned the resolution.

On Thursday, Iraq requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the presence of the Turkish troops on the territory of northern Iraq.