Four issues at the forefront of Turkey-Iraq negotiations

Four issues at the forefront of Turkey-Iraq negotiations

A well-prepared meeting took place last week between Turkey and Iraq. It was the visit of a delegation led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by an army of ministers.
Preparations were carefully completed before the meeting. Twenty-six agreements were signed at the meeting, ranging from security to the economy and from public health to education. Permanent committees were created to strengthen the contractual bases of cooperation between the two countries.
The annual trade volume between Turkey and Iraq hovers around $20 billion and both countries are eager to increase it.
Four topics were at the forefront of the negotiations: the PKK terrorist group, water from the Tigris, the resumption of oil deliveries and the construction of a land and rail corridor.
The issue of the PKK terrorist group was at the top of the agenda. The Turkish government has made progress in controlling PKK activities on Turkish soil, but further efforts are needed to keep them at controllable levels on Iraqi and Syrian soil. Iraqi authorities have been open about cooperation, but that is easier said than done.
Through an agreement dating back to Saddam Hussein's regime, Turkey was allowed to have a dispersed military presence in various locations in northern Iraq. When Iraq fell into chaos following the fall of Saddam, Turkey increased its military presence in northern Iraq.
A joint statement was issued two weeks ago, after a delegation including Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler and Ibrahim Kalin, head of Turkish intelligence, visited Baghdad . At the meeting held two weeks ago, Iraqi authorities announced that they had agreed to designate the PKK as a banned organization. However, there is a difference between a banned organization and a terrorist organization. It seems that this vagueness could not be resolved during Erdogan's visit to Baghdad.
After his visit last week, Erdogan said he shared with his Iraqi counterparts his hope that the presence of the PKK terrorist organization in Iraq would end. This optimistic statement does not necessarily mean that Erdogan succeeded in convincing his Iraqi counterparts that the PKK would be considered a terrorist organization.

Iraqi authorities have been open about cooperating with the PKK, but this is easier said than done.

Yasar Yakis

The second important problem between Turkey and Iraq is that of water. Seventy percent of Iraq's water comes from the Tigris River in Turkey, although Turkey itself is not a water-rich country. The volume of water passing from Turkey to Iraq is 31.4 billion cubic meters per year. Where the Tigris forms the border between Syria and Iraq, Syria is estimated to draw 2.5 billion cubic meters of water. However, Iraq is asking for much more water from the Tigris. During negotiations last week, the two countries agreed on a ten-year plan for water management, but this agreement fails to share the annual flow.
Third, the resumption of the flow of oil from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to international markets. A Turkish company previously marketed oil belonging to the Kurdistan Regional Government, but the Iraqi central authority complained that it did not have the right to sell oil extracted from the Kurdistan Region without its consent. The Iraqi government took the issue to the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, which ruled last year that exporting the oil was illegal. Today, oil exports have been reduced and several international oil companies have suspended production. The fate of billions of dollars in revenue is still up in the air.
The fourth issue is a colossal quadrilateral transportation project called the Development Road, which involves Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. It will connect the port of Grand Faw under construction, at the mouth of the Shatt Al-Arab, in the south of Iraq, to ​​the Turkish border in the north. The project is made up of 1,200 km of railway line and a parallel highway. Parts of the transportation corridor already exist in a fragmented manner, so the missing parts will need to be completed. A 133 km railway will have to be built on Turkish territory to complete the connection.
The Development Road project will become the largest in the Middle East and is expected to become partially operational in 2025, before being fully completed in 2028. The largest port in the Gulf is currently Jebel Ali in Dubai with 67 berths. The port of Grand Faw should have 90 berths. The construction of the port is progressing quite well. The United States and India will try to end this project in order to promote their India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor, announced last year.
President Erdogan, returning from Baghdad, also visited Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. This oil-rich province was usurped by the British during the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman authorities proposed holding a plebiscite, the British government opposed it. In addition, various Kurdish groups, instigated by the British, resorted to uprisings in some southeastern provinces of Turkey. As a result, the Mosul province of the Ottoman state was left to Iraq.
Beyond this historical context, Turkey and Iraq need each other, but they have never been on the same page for a long time. We'll see if they can seize the opportunity this time.

Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Türkiye and a founding member of the ruling AKP party.
X: @yakis_yasar

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Arab News.