Turkish PM wants to visit Baghdad amid row over troops

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday he wanted to visit Baghdad as soon as possible to try to calm a row over Turkish troops deployed to train their Iraqi counterparts in the fight against Islamic State.

Turkey says its latest deployment of soldiers to northern Iraq is part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi forces. The Iraqi government says it never invited such a force and will take its case to the United Nations if they are not pulled out.

Davutoglu said Turkish troops were in Iraq to protect against a possible attack from Islamic State and that those who interpreted their presence differently were involved in "deliberate provocation". He said more than 2,000 people had received training at the camp in northern Iraq.