Obama presses Turkey’s president to lower tensions with Iraq

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is urging Turkey to continue pulling its troops out of Iraq in a bid to resolve the dispute between the two countries.

Obama spoke by phone on Friday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The White House says Obama encouraged Erdogan to take further steps to “de-escalate tensions” between Iraq and Turkey. Obama say Turkey needs to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Iraq’s government has been incensed over Turkey’s move to send reinforcements to a camp in northern Iraq where Sunni and Kurdish troops are being trained to fight the Islamic State group. Turkey has stationed troops there since last year, but recently sent more, claiming the need to protect its forces from IS attacks. (AP)