Iraqi President says Turkish deployment violates international law

Gbenga Bada 11:26 - 05 December 2015

Iraq"s President Fouad Massoum speaks during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad March 31, 2015.

Massoum called on Turkey to withdraw the forces and asked Iraq's foreign ministry to take the necessary measures to preserve the country's sovereignty and independence.

Iraqi President Fouad Massoum on Saturday called the deployment of several hundred Turkish troops near the northern city of Mosul "a violation of international norms and law" and said it would raise regional tensions.

In an online statement, Massoum called on Turkey to withdraw the forces and asked Iraq's foreign ministry to take the necessary measures to preserve the country's sovereignty and independence.

A Turkish security source said on Friday that several hundred Turkish troops had been deployed to provide training for Iraqi troops near Mosul, a city of more than one million people which Islamic State militants overran in July 2014.