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Syria Slams Turkey over Troop Deployment in Iraq


FILE - A Turkish military armored personnel carrier drives past a small patrol base high in the mountains of Cukurca near the Iraqi border in southeastern Turkey. Syria slammed Turkey on Dec. 6, 2015, for deploying hundreds of troops in neighboring Iraq.
FILE - A Turkish military armored personnel carrier drives past a small patrol base high in the mountains of Cukurca near the Iraqi border in southeastern Turkey. Syria slammed Turkey on Dec. 6, 2015, for deploying hundreds of troops in neighboring Iraq.

Syria slammed Turkey on Sunday for deploying hundreds of troops in neighboring Iraq, accusing Ankara of playing a "destructive role" against both Arab countries.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has described the deployment as a routine rotation of forces that set up a camp almost a year ago near the northern city of Mosul, which is controlled by Islamic State militants.

Davutoglu says the troops had originally been deployed in coordination with Iraqi authorities, but Baghdad demanded the their withdrawal on Saturday.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry joined the row, saying in a statement that it "condemns the flagrant Turkish violation of Iraqi territory, which comes as a continuation of the destructive role [Ankara] is playing against Syria and Iraq". The statement was carried on Syrian state television.

Syria has accused Ankara of supporting "terrorist" groups in the country's civil war. Turkey says the departure of President Bashar al-Assad must be part of any long-term solution to the Syrian conflict, and is among a number of foreign states that support rebels fighting his forces.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish ambassador to demand the withdrawal, saying the troops had entered Iraqi territory without the knowledge of the central government in Baghdad, and it considered their presence as "a hostile act".

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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