Turkish Forces to Exit Iraq’s Bashiqa Base by Year-End
(MENAFN) Turkish forces will begin withdrawing in phases this month from the Bashiqa-Zelikan military camp in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, Baghdad said Monday, with full control of the base due to pass to Iraqi security forces before the year ends.
A joint Iraqi-Turkish security committee has already started work overseeing the handover, Sabah al-Numan, spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, said in remarks to a state-owned Iraqi broadcaster.
Al-Numan said the committee was activated under understandings that Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached when they met in New York in September.
Monday’s announcement came a day after the two governments issued a joint statement in which Ankara agreed to gradually hand the Bashiqa-Zelikan base over to Iraq’s federal government.
The installation, located on the Nineveh Plain, has long strained relations between the two countries. Türkiye set up a military presence there in 2015 to back operations against the terrorist group Islamic State, while Iraq has consistently regarded the deployment as a violation of its sovereignty.
A joint Iraqi-Turkish security committee has already started work overseeing the handover, Sabah al-Numan, spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, said in remarks to a state-owned Iraqi broadcaster.
Al-Numan said the committee was activated under understandings that Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached when they met in New York in September.
Monday’s announcement came a day after the two governments issued a joint statement in which Ankara agreed to gradually hand the Bashiqa-Zelikan base over to Iraq’s federal government.
The installation, located on the Nineveh Plain, has long strained relations between the two countries. Türkiye set up a military presence there in 2015 to back operations against the terrorist group Islamic State, while Iraq has consistently regarded the deployment as a violation of its sovereignty.
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