US welcomes rearrangement of Turkish troops in Iraq

WASHINGTON

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has welcomed the rearrangement of Turkish troops out of Camp Bashiqa to another area in northern Iraq as "an important step to de-escalate recent tensions," White House said in a statement Monday.

Biden made the remarks during a phone conversation with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu regarding Turkey’s troop deployments in northern Iraq.

According to the statement, Biden reiterated that any foreign military presence in Iraq must be with the full consent of the Iraqi government. Both leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"The vice president encouraged the Turkish government to continue its dialogue with Baghdad on additional measures to improve relations between Turkey and Iraq," the statement said.

"The vice president also reaffirmed the United States' commitment to close cooperation with Iraq and Turkey in the fight against ISIL [Daesh]," it added.

Monday's phone call was Biden's second call to Davutoglu since last week.

The call came after a Turkish military source said earlier Monday that some Turkish troops deployed at Bashiqa had been moved to another part of northern Iraq.

Baghdad complained about the Dec. 4 deployment of troops to the site near Mosul, calling it a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and insisting the Turkish force be withdrawn.

Turkey said that the 150 soldiers and up to 25 tanks were stationed at Bashiqa to protect Turkish servicemen training Iraqi volunteers to fight Daesh. The training mission has been in operation since March and is not assigned to combat duties.