Turkish soldiers will stay on Iraqi soil: Turkish PM

Turkish troops will remain in Iraq to continue the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and to make sure that no change to the region's "demographic structure" is imposed, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has vowed.

"Whatever the Iraqi government in Baghdad says, the Turkish presence there [in the Bashiqa region] will remain for the fight against ISIL and to make sure that the demographic structure of the region is not being changed by force," said Yıldırım, addressing a trade and industry meeting in Ankara on Oct. 6.

He added that at a time when there were troops from 63 countries in Iraq to fight against terror, concern over the Turkish presence in the country was "absurd" and had "nothing to do with good intentions."

"Iraq's reaction to Turkey's military presence at the Bashiqa army base north of Mosul is "a fool's errand" since there are soldiers from 63 countries in Iraq, the prime minister said, adding that Turkey aimed to ensure that more blood was not spilled in the region.

"Iraq is wasting its time by fixating on Turkey's presence in Bashiqa, when there are troops from 63 different countries under the name of fighting Daesh [ISIL] and other terrorist organizations," he said. The prime minister stressed that Iraq's reaction came ahead of a Mosul offensive planned in October.

Yıldırım also criticized the central Iraqi administration for failing to take any precautions against outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) elements in northern Iraq.

[HH] Iraqi parliament's decision does not represent all Iraqis

A resolution adopted by Iraq's parliament criticizing the Turkish military presence at the Bashiqa base in northern Iraq does not represent all of Iraqis, Foreign Minister...