Turkey’s Defence Ministry announced Thursday the withdrawal of all its troops deployed in Iraq, specifically those stationed in Baghdad as part of the NATO mission in the neighbouring country, as part of ‘precautionary measures’ in the face of rising tensions in the Middle East over the war between Israel, the US and Iran.
In an official statement, the ministry confirmed that the withdrawal of the Turkish Armed Forces has been completed. “In light of recent developments in our region, NATO authorities have decided to withdraw the NATO mission in Iraq. In accordance with this decision, the evacuation of Turkish Armed Forces personnel serving in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, has been successfully completed. As part of the withdrawal plan carried out by NATO, our country has also supported the evacuation activities of allied personnel,” the statement said, quoted by Turkish media.
Sources in the NATO mission in Iraq said the withdrawal was a “precautionary step” taken in coordination with the Iraqi government due to the escalation of the war in the region to “ensure the safety” of NATO military personnel deployed in the country. Moreover, recent information indicates that Türkiye has also facilitated in recent days the evacuation of some 200 Spanish military personnel who were part of the Spanish mission in Iraq.
The Turkish defence ministry also warned of the growing impact that the crisis in the Middle East is having on regional security, stressing that the ongoing war poses a threat to the stability of the entire region. In this context, Ankara denounced Israeli attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure in Lebanon as pointing to Israeli plans for a possible occupation; it also criticised Israeli military actions in southern Syria as a clear violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and warned that the increase in illegal settlements and violence in the West Bank further aggravates the fragility of the region.
The NATO mission in Iraq was launched following the Atlantic Alliance summit in Brussels in July 2018, at the request of the Iraqi government, and was formally established in October 2018. Last Friday, NATO ordered the evacuation of all its personnel in Iraq, a decision that Iraqi officials described as temporary, however. A spokesman for the mission reiterated that the withdrawal is only a “precautionary step” taken due to the current circumstances in the region to ensure the “safety of its personnel”.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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