Turkish military personnel participating in NATO’s mission in Iraq have been “successfully” withdrawn from the country, the Turkish Defence Ministry announced on Thursday.
Zeki Aktürk, the ministry’s spokesperson, said at a press briefing: “The evacuation of our Armed Forces personnel serving in Baghdad has been successfully completed.”
He added that Türkiye, a core NATO member, had also “assisted in the evacuation of personnel from allied nations.”
Last week, the 32-member alliance announced it was withdrawing all personnel from Iraq due to mounting regional tensions and deteriorating security conditions.
In a statement, Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, said the alliance’s mission in Iraq - launched in 2018 - was relocating “all its personnel” from the Middle East to Europe.
According to a NATO official cited by Reuters, the move involved the departure of “several hundred” NATO personnel from the country.
In a related development, the Turkish Defence Ministry also announced that plans are under way to establish a NATO Corps Headquarters in Türkiye within the framework of the alliance’s Southeast Regional Plan.
According to the ministry, the planned headquarters, which will operate under the command of Turkish military officers, is intended to bolster NATO’s “deterrence and defence” capabilities in the region.
Since the ongoing war between Iran, Israel and the U.S. began almost one month ago, NATO air defences in the Eastern Mediterranean have intercepted three ballistic missiles fired towards Turkish airspace.
The defence ministry, however, was quick to stress that plans to establish a NATO Corps Headquarters in Türkiye had been approved before the conflict began and were not related to recent developments.
Türkiye has been a core NATO member since 1952 and currently fields the alliance’s second-largest army after the U.S.
It continues to play a frontline role in strengthening NATO’s south-eastern flank, particularly amid growing instability in both the Middle East and Black Sea regions.
Later this year, Istanbul will host a landmark NATO Leaders’ Summit, highlighting the country’s strategic importance within NATO’s regional security architecture.
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