PHOTO: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu

UPDATE, December 8, 1800 GMT: Turkey has balanced its position by saying that, while it will not withdraw its forces from the Bashiqa base near Mosul, it will not send in more troops.

“It is unacceptable to think that Turkey would take a step that would weaken Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, over which Turkey has a high sensitivity,” the Turkish Foreign Ninistry said in a statement. “Due to the sensitivity that has occurred among the authorities in Iraq, our friend and brother, we stopped the force deployment to Bashiqa two days ago.”

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has asked NATO to intervene, in a conversation with the organization’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg:

UPDATE, December 8, 0600 GMT: Shifting its position once more, Turkey has said that it will not withdraw its soldiers from the Bashiqa base near the Islamic State’s center of Mosul in northern Iraq.

“It is our duty to provide security for our soldiers providing training there,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview on Monday. “The goal of all of them is clear. Train-and-equip advisory support is being provided. Our presence there is not a secret.”

Following the Iraqi Government’s statement that it might refer the issue to the UN Security Council, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoğlu had written Iraqi counterpart Haidar al-Abadi, “There will be no deployment of forces to Bashiqa until the sensitivities of Iraq are addressed.”

But a senior Turkish official said hundreds of soldiers, who had been deployed last week with tanks and other armored vehicles, would remain at the base: “The military personnel for training will stay. Not because we want them (there) particularly but because there is a demand from the Iraqi side. The discussion with the central government still continues.”

Turkey has stepped back from deployment of troops in northern Iraq, days after Baghdad protested the presence of 150 Turkish soldiers at a base near the Islamic State’s center of Mosul.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu wrote Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi on Sunday to set out activities and the duties of the Turkish troops at the base in Bashiqa, 32 km (20 miles) north of Mosul.

“There will be no deployment of forces to Bashiqa until the sensitivities of Iraq are addressed,” Davutoğlu wrote.

He also said that Turkey will keep providing support to the Iraqi Government in fight against the Islamic State, and that Ankara wants to enhance cooperation with Baghdad.

On Friday, the Turkish army sent in 150 troops to replace 90 personnel who have been training Kurdish peshmerga and Arab fighters. It said more than 2,500 peshmerga have participated in the program.

A statement from Iraqi Prime Minister al-Abadi’s office called on the force to leave immediately, saying that the entry of “around one armed battalion with a number of tanks and cannons” was a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.

See Iraq Feature: Turkey Signs Deal with Kurds for Base Near Mosul

Al-Abadi said on Sunday that Iraq might take the matter to the UN Security Council if the Turkish troops did not leave within 48 hours.

Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government signed an agreement on November 4 for the Turkish presence at Bashiqa.