"We call on the Security Council to demand that Turkey withdraw its forces immediately… and not to violate Iraqi sovereignty again," Iraqi Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim wrote in a letter to US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power who is presiding in the Security Council this month, as quoted by Reuters.

"This is considered a flagrant violation of the principles of the U.N. Charter, and a violation of Iraqi territorial integrity and sovereignty of the state of Iraq."

On December 4, Turkey deployed about 150 troops and 25 tanks to a base in the Iraqi Nineveh province, without Baghdad's approval.

According to Ankara, the aim of the deployment was to provide security to Turkish soldiers deployed earlier to train Kurdish militia who are fighting the so-called “Islamic State” (ISIL /ISIS, or Daesh), a group outlawed in a number of countries.

Iraq has rejected the claims, stressing that the Turkish military presence had not been requested.

"Iraq worked on containment of this issue by diplomatic means and bilateral talks, but these efforts did not succeed in convincing Turkey to withdraw its occupying forces from Iraqi territory," the letter said describing the Turkish incursion as an "aggressive act."