Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army Abdel Emir Yarallah on Saturday exposed the extent of Turkey's military presence in Iraq, revealing that it is operating five bases in the country.
Speaking at a special parliamentary session in wake of last week's Turkish strike on the northern Dohuk province, in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, Yarallah said: “The bases include more than 4,000 Turkish fighters.”
Moreover, he said Turkey has increased its incursions in Iraq.
He noted that its military boasted 40 positions in Iraq in 2021 and the figure has since risen to 100 at just short distances from the Zakho, Amadiya, and Dohuk regions.
Yarallah renewed calls to “send forces from the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga to these areas to take back vacant border lands to prevent the Turks from advancing or deploying artillery and make them turn back to their territories.”
Iraq's caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi received on Monday the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
According to a readout issued by his bureau, Kadhimi said his government proceeded with the necessary protocols to bring up the Turkish bombing of a resort in Dohuk's Zakho before the Security Council.
“The Prime Minister called upon the UN and the international community to consider the Iraqi account of the situation,” said the statement.
For her part, Hennis-Plasschaert pledged to report the attack in a session the UN Security Council will call in to discuss this issue.
“Iraq mobilized all efforts, in agreement with its partners, to condemn the Turkish attacks,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmad al-Sahaf told Asharq al-Awsat.
The Security Council condemned in the strongest terms on Monday the Dohuk attack.
It reiterated support for the independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, democratic process and prosperity of Iraq.
On Sunday, the Iraqi government sent a letter to the Security Council, saying Baghdad documented more than 22,740 violations committed by the Turkish armed forces.
Baghdad's letter included a demand for an apology from Ankara to Iraq and its people.
