First Published: 2012-10-02
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Iraqi cabinet decides to reject
presence of any foreign bases or forces on Iraqi land, reject entry of
any foreign military forces into Iraqi land.
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Middle East Online
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BAGHDAD
- Iraq's cabinet on Tuesday called for the abrogation of treaties
permitting foreign forces in Iraq, a move a high-ranking official said
is aimed at ending Turkey's military presence in the north.
Turkey has maintained several military bases in the autonomous Kurdistan region of north Iraq since the 1990s.
"The
cabinet decided to reject the presence of any foreign bases or forces
on Iraqi land and to reject the entry of any foreign military forces
into Iraqi land," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a
statement.
And it "recommends that parliament cancel
and not extend any treaty signed in the past with any foreign state that
allows the presence of foreign forces and military bases on Iraqi land
or the entry of these forces," he said.
A high-ranking
Iraqi official said that the decision was aimed at Turkish military
bases in the north Iraq province of Dohuk, one of the three provinces
that make up the Kurdistan region.
The treaty in
question "is the one that Saddam Hussein signed in 1995 allowing Turkish
forces to have a presence in Iraq's northern regions to pursue the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)," the official said on condition of
anonymity, referring to a Kurdish rebel group with bases in north Iraq.
Kurdistan
premier Nechirvan Barzani has previously said that an agreement had
been in force since 1997 to allow the Turks to have military bases
inside the Kurdish region.
Ties between Iraq and Turkey
have been marred by a flurry of disputes this year, including Ankara's
refusal to extradite Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who has been
sentenced to death in absentia by an Iraqi court.
Iraqi
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last month declined an invitation to
visit Turkey, a decision his spokesman said was taken because "his
schedule is crowded and he is busy."
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Wednesday 3 October 2012
Baghdad moves to end Turkish presence in north Iraq
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Middle-East-Online
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