Erdogan: It is ‘out of the question’ to pull out troops from Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Pulling Turkish troops out of Iraq at this time “is out of the question,” Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Thursday, as he announced a meeting this week with Washington and Erbil to discuss the issue. 

"Turkish troops in Mosul are not there as combatants, they are trainers," Erdogan said. "Their numbers may vary depending on the size of Kurdish Peshmerga troops," he was quoted as saying by the official Anadolu Agency.

"It is out of the question, for now, to pull them out," he said.

Turkey and Iraq’s central government in Baghdad have been locked in a growing diplomatic spat since earlier this month, when Iraq objected to Turkish forces entering the country.

Turkey explained the forces were there to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces, but Baghdad demanded they must leave.

Erdogan reiterated that Turkey's presence in northern Iraq was not new. 

He said that, since 2014, Ankara has been training the KRG’s Peshmerga forces, following a request from Mosul’s governor. 

Erdogan also announced that Turkey, the United States and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) would meet on Dec. 21 to discuss the issue. 

The announcement followed a visit to Turkey by Kurdistan region President Masoud Barzani, where he offered to mediate in the dispute.