Alwaght- Turkish government has conceded to Iraqi request to withdraw its armed forces from Iraqi territory on Saturday.
After a meeting with the Turkish Prime Minister, the Iraqi Prime Misiter, Haider al-Abadi said Baghdad has reached an agreement with its northern neighbor according to which Turk forces will evacuate norther Iraqi city of Bashiqa.
Turkish PM Binali Yildirim visited Baghdad on Saturday after a long period of deteriorating relations between the two countries when Ankara refused to remove its forces from a camp in Bashigha.
The extension of Turkish units' mission in Iraq was highly criticized by Baghdad that demanded their evacuation of Turkish "occupying forces".
According to Iraqi state TV, Abadi announced the agreement without providing further details about the agreement over Turkey’s military presence in the Iraqi town of Bashiqa. Turkey deployed about 500 troops to the facility last year, saying it was wary of potential attacks by the ISIS terrorists that are currently based in the city of Mosul, near Bashiqa.
Sources in Ankara had also speculated that Yildirim's discussions in Baghdad would include the Bashiqa dispute, the fight against ISIS, and the issue of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a militant Kurdish group which has been waging a decades-long insurgency against Ankara. Turkey has been carrying out air strikes on alleged PKK positions in northern Iraq.
