Iraq To Lodge Complaint Over Turkey At UN Security Council

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has instructed the Foreign Ministry to lodge a formal complaint at the UN Security Council over the deployment of Turkish troops in the country's north.

In a December 11 statement on his website, Abadi called on the council to order Turkey to withdraw its troops from Iraq immediately.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview that the complaint was not an "honest step," and reiterated that he would not bow to Iraqi demands that he withdraw troops from a camp close to the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.

Turkey has stationed troops there since 2014 as part of a training mission.

The arrival of additional Turkish soldiers last week sparked an uproar in the Iraqi capital, which denies having agreed to the deployment.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AP