Davutoğlu talks to Biden over Iraq soldiers row: Prime Ministry sources

ANKARA - Reuters

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu speaks during a meeting with foreign media journalists at the prime minister's office in Istanbul on December 9, 2015. / AFP / OZAN KOSE

Turkey's prime minister on Dec. 10 evening told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden by telephone that Turkey respects Iraq's sovereignty, amid a row over Turkish troops deployed in Iraqi territory, Prime Ministry sources said.

U.S. officials requested the call, the sources said, in which Davutoğlu emphasised that Ankara stands alongside Baghdad in its struggle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). A letter expressing these sentiments was also being delivered to the Iraqi PM by a high level Turkish delegation.