Baghdad (dpa) - Iraq has said that it is seeking international support at the United Nations for a resolution condemning Ankara over Turkish troops in northern Iraq.Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Jamal said Thursday that his country has started reaching out to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and "friendly countries" which he did not name."The contacts are aimed at taking an international stance against the Turkish breach of Iraq‘s sovereignty and mobilizing international backing for a Security Council decision denouncing this violation," Jamal said. Tensions are growing between Baghdad and Ankara over the Turkish troops, who are training Iraqi Kurdish forces near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which is controlled by the Islamic State terrorist militia.Ankara says the fewer than 1,000 troops in northern Iraq are for the purpose of training fighters to take on Islamic State.Baghdad insists that the Turkish troops had been sent without its permission and demanded their withdrawal.Earlier in the day, Iraq‘s ambassador to Egypt, Diaa al-Dabas, said his country had asked the Arab League to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the dispute.The request was made by Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in a telephone call with Nabil al-Araby, the head of the Cairo-based pan-Arab organization, according to al-Dabas.No date has been set for the meeting to be held at the level of Arab foreign ministers, the diplomat said."The meeting is aimed at studying repercussions of the Turkish troops‘ entry in Iraq and its effects on Arab national security."Turkey sent forces to the Bashiqa region of neighbouring Iraq last week, calling it a routine rotation of its trainers.Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is under pressure from Shiite militias who are angry over foreign troop deployment in the country.Shiite militias are instrumental in Iraq‘s US-backed military campaign against Islamic State, which controls large parts of the country‘s Sunni heartland.
