Ankara in talks with Baghdad on troops; Iraq PM claims ISIS oil flows via Turkey

Turkey has not withdrawn any troops from Iraq following an ultimatum from Baghdad, a senior Turkish official said on Monday, adding that Ankara was in discussions with Iraq’s defence ministry and could reduce the size of its forces.

Turkey also said it had a duty to protect its soldiers around the ISIS-controlled city of Mosul in Iraq and that they were there simply on a training mission.

Turkey sent hundreds of forces to a camp in the Bashiqa region of northern Iraq on Thursday. It described it as a routine rotation in an existing training program to help Iraqis retake Mosul from Islamic State (ISIS), and said the troops were there to ensure the safety of the Turkish military trainers.

But the Iraqi government said the latest deployment had been made without informing or coordinating with Baghdad, and should be withdrawn. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday that Iraq might turn to the UN Security Council if the troops were not withdrawn within 48 hours, describing their deployment as a violation of national sovereignty.

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, however, said Mr Abadi had repeatedly requested more active Turkish support against the ISIS, and said he believed other countries had played a role in Iraq’s reaction. He did not elaborate.

“It is our duty to provide security for our soldiers providing training there,” Mr Cavusoglu said in an interview on Turkey’s Kanal 24 television.

“Everybody is present in Iraq... The goal of all of them is clear. Train-and-equip advisory support is being provided. Our presence there is not a secret,” he added. Iraq’s foreign minister said Monday said the demand over troops withdrawal applies to “Turkish armed forces” in the country’s north, but excludes advisers.

“The Iraqi demand (for the withdrawal) is only related to the violation recorded by the presence of Turkish armed forces without coordination with Iraq,” Ibrahim al-Jaafari told a joint news conference alongside his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Turkey, embroiled in a row with Moscow after it shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border almost two weeks ago, is eager to show it is playing its part in the fight against the ISIS. It has come under pressure from the United States to play a more active role, particularly in Syria.

Meanwhile, Mr Abadi said Monday that most oil smuggled by the ISIS goes through Turkey, joining a chorus of countries linking it with the jihadists' financing. During a meeting with Germany’s visiting foreign minister, Mr Abadi stressed the “importance of stopping oil smuggling by (ISIS) terrorist gangs, the majority of which is smuggled via Turkey,” a statement from his office said. Relations with Ankara have improved since Mr Abadi took office in 2014, but tensions remain over issues, including the Syrian civil war, and more recently a row over a Turkish military deployment in northern Iraq.

Moscow has accused Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his family of benefiting from the illegal smuggling of oil from ISIS-held territory in Syria and Iraq, a charge Ankara vehemently denies.

It is the latest in a series of accusations linking Turkey and oil smuggling by the ISIS, which overran large parts of Iraq last year and also holds major territory in neighbouring Syria.

Russia accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of involvement in the ISIS oil trade, to which he responded that Russia was in fact involved.

Iranian media then picked up Russia's claims, prompting Mr Erdogan to lash out at his Iranian counterpart.

And Mohsen Rezaie, secretary of Iran’s expediency council, said Iranian military advisers on the ground in Iraq and Syria had images of ISIS oil trucks going to Turkey.