Turkish troops leaving Bashiqa Camp in N. Iraq as part of new arrangement

Some Turkish troops deployed in Northern Iraq are leaving Bashiqa Camp, moving North as part of 'New Arrangement,' a military source said on Monday.

According to reports, the troops deployed in Bashiqa started moving north with a convoy consisting of 10-12 vehicles, and the military source underscored that the move comes as part of the new arrangement.

An unspecified number of tanks also left.

On December 4, 150 Turkish soldiers equipped with heavy weapons arrived on the outskirts of the Daesh-held Mosul province in Northern Iraq to train forces, while Baghdad demanded the withdrawal of soldiers. Iraq on Sunday, gave Turkey a 48 hour ultimatum to withdraw the forces or face "all available options."

Turkey said the 150 soldiers and up to 25 tanks were stationed at Bashiqa to protect servicemen training Iraqi volunteers to fight Daesh.

The training mission has been in operation since March and is not assigned combat duties.

PM Davutoğlu previously sent a letter to his Iraqi counterpart Haider Al-Abadi in which he emphasized Turkey's commitment to cooperation with Iraq, and said, "We will not deploy more troops to Bashiqa until your concerns about the matter are assuaged."

According to the statement released by the Prime Ministry on Sunday, Davutoğlu informed Al-Abadi about the military training program currently in progress in Bashiqa, duties and activities of Turkish soldiers and current developments about the matter.