Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey was ready to make “every effort” to help resolve tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which have worsened.

In a wide-ranging policy speech to the annual meeting of Turkish ambassadors, Cavusoglu defended Turkey’s deployment of a force protection unit to Bashiqa in northern Iraq, a move which has caused a diplomatic row with Baghdad.

He repeated that Ankara respects Iraq’s territorial integrity and said the deployment was made after security deteriorated at Bashiqa, where Turkish soldiers have been training an Iraqi militia to fight ISIS.

Related articles across the web

• Turkey Says Attack Justifies Sending Troops into Iraq
• US defense secretary in Iraq visit amid Ankara-Baghdad tensions
• US calls on Turkey to withdraw 'unauthorized' troops from Iraq
• US Urges Turkey to Draw Back Troops from Iraq - Veterans Today
• Turkey Still Expects To Receive Gas Discount From Russia
• Turkey Blinks?
• Friends With Benefits: What's Behind Turkey's Odd Alliance With Iraqi Kurds
• Iraq: Foreign military support must have consent of govt
• Qatar ready to provide Turkey with gas
• Thousands of Iraqis protest against Turkey's troop deployment in north