Turkish army tanks and military personal are stationed in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 25, 2016.

Turkey will discuss with Iraq the presence of Turkish troops at the Bashiqa camp near Mosul after the area is cleared of ISIS, and the matter will be resolved in a friendly manner, Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on Wednesday.

“Turkey respects Iraq’s territorial integrity and unity, and the presence of our troops in Bashiqa is not a choice but a necessity,” Isik told reporters in Kirikkale, a city east of the capital Ankara, in comments broadcast live.

He said Turkish troops in Iraq had carried out a successful mission and killed more than 700 ISIS militants.

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