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Turkey unsettled by 'anti-Islamic' messages in US presidential race: foreign minister

Mevlut Cavusoglu defends Turkey's deployment of force protection unit to Bashiqa in Iraq

Reuters January 11, 2016 Less than a minute read

turkey quot s foreign minister mevlut cavusoglu takes part in an international conference at the ministry of foreign affairs in rome december 13 2015 photo reuters

Turkey"s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu takes part in an international conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome December 13, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

ANKARA: Turkey is unsettled by "anti-Islamic" messages in the US presidential race, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a wide-ranging policy speech to Turkish ambassadors on Monday.

Cavusoglu defended Turkey's deployment of a force protection unit to Bashiqa in Iraq, which has caused a diplomatic row with Baghdad, saying Ankara respected Iraq's territorial integrity and that the deployment was made after security deteriorated.

Speaking at an annual ambassadors' conference in Ankara, Cavusoglu said Turkey was ready to do what is needed to help end tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which escalated after Riyadh executed a senior Shia cleric on January 2 and Tehran failed to defend the Saudi embassy against an attack.