Iraq's defense minister said on Sunday he had told his Turkish counterpart that hundreds of Turkish forces deployed inside northern Iraq had been sent without informing or coordinating with Baghdad, and must be withdrawn.

Khaled al-Obeidi said in a statement that the Turkish defense minister had explained the deployment as necessary to protect Turkish military advisers training Iraqi forces at a camp near Mosul. But Obeidi said the Turkish force was too large for such a purpose.

(Reporting By Stephen Kalin; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

REUTERS