Turkey to withdraw more troops from IraqDecember 21, 2015 - 11:08 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey says it will withdraw more troops from northern Iraq and acknowledged there had been a miscommunication with the Iraqi government over the issue, the Associated Press reports. The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced late Saturday, December 19, the government "in recognition of the Iraqi concerns and in accordance with the requirements of the fight against Daesh (Islamic State), is continuing to move military forces from Nineveh province." The move followed an appeal from President Barak Obama, who called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday and urged him "to take additional steps to de-escalate tensions with Iraq." The Ankara-Baghdad spat has been an unwelcome setback to U.S. efforts to accelerate the fight against Islamic State extremists. Turkey began withdrawing troops stationed near the IS-controlled Iraqi city of Mosul earlier this week. But Baghdad, which considers the deployment of Turkish troops an illegal incursion, demanded the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from Iraqi territory at a U.N. Security Council meeting. The dispute flared up earlier this month after Turkey deployed reinforcements to a camp in Iraq's Bashiqa region where Sunni and Kurdish troops are being trained to fight IS militants. Turkey has stationed troops there since last year but had recently sent more with the stated aim of protecting its forces from IS attacks. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |