Egypt demands Turkish withdrawal from Iraqi territories

Thursday 24-12-2015 10:08 PM
Egypt demands Turkish withdrawal from Iraqi territories

A Tomahawk cruise missile is launched against ISIL targets from the US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Arleigh Burke, in the Red Sea September 23, 2014. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Carlos M. Vazquez Ii/handout via Reuters

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CAIRO, Dec. 24 (Aswar Masriya) Egypt denounced Thursday Turkey's “violation” of Iraqi soverignty and called for the "immediate and unconditional withdrawal" of Turkish troops from Iraqi territories.

“Arab territories are subjected to daily violations, and Arab countries must confront those incursions because history will hold us accountable,” Shoukry said in his speech at an emergency Arab League meeting held in Cairo on the Turkish military intervention in Iraq.

He criticized the Turkish milistary presence in Iraq, describing it as neither in accord with international law nor mandated by the United Nations. 

Shoukry said that confronting “the terror of ISIS, Nusra Front and Ansar el-Sharia” is a joint responsibility that requires coordination between Arab countries.

He expressed Egypt’s opposition to foreign intervention in Arab countries’ internal affairs without permission, and he said it is important for Arab states to take the lead in confronting terror on their territories.

Turkey deployed 150 troops in a military base in northern Iraq saying that it aims to protect the Turkish military experts providing training to an Iraqi group fighting ISIS. Last week, Ankara stated that it withdrew some of its forces from Iraq after Baghdad’s complaint, but it did not commit itself to a full withdrawal. 

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