Turkey and Iraq reaffirm the commitment to work against Kurdish militants and other security threats

Ankara, Turkish President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening security cooperation on Thursday, promising to work against threats, including Kurdish activists on the basis of Iraqi territory.

Al-Sudani arrived in Türkiye while neighboring countries are trying to improve cooperation and repair tensions.

Relations between Turkey and Iraq were often tense on Turkish military incursions in northern Iraq for operations against the Kurdistan worker party prohibited, or PKK, and the creation of Turkish military bases there. Baghdad frequently condemned forays as a violation of its sovereignty, while Ankara accused Iraq not to do enough to fight the PKK.

More recently, however, the two countries have deepened security cooperation, including the fight against the presence of the PKK in northern Iraq. Last year, Iraq announced that the Iraqi National Security Council issued a ban on the PKK, although it stopped appointing it as a terrorist organization.

Erdogan said that the two had reaffirmed our determination to fight against Kurdish activists, the Islamic State group and against network members that Turkey accuses of being a failed military coup in 2016.

“We have once again stressed that terrorism has no place in the future of our region,” said Erdogan.

Al-Sudani said: what affects Iraqi security affects the safety of turkeys and vice versa. “”

According to our constitution, we do not allow any groups to use Iraqi territory to attack neighboring countries, he said.

Thursday, officials designed 11 agreements, especially in trade and defense, to advance cooperation between the two countries.

Erdogan underlined the urgency of resuming oil expeditions through an Iraqi-Turkish pipeline.

The oil ranging from the Kurdish region semi-autonomous to Turkey has been closed since March 2023, after a decision of the arbitration court ordered Ankara to pay $ 1.5 billion in Iraq for oil exports that bypassed the central government of Iraq in Baghdad. The sharing of oil and gas income has long been a controversial problem between the authorities of Baghdad and Kurdish in Irbil.

Al-Sudani said that water supply to Iraq was also discussed. He said that the committees were pursuing meetings to agree on the mechanisms of water management projects.

We have underlined the need for a fair understanding that respects the interests of the two parties, in accordance with the principles of equity and good neighborhood, said the Iraqi Prime Minister.

In recent years, Iraqi officials have complained that the dams built by Turkey reduce the water supply of the Iraks.

The rivers of the tiger and the Euphrates, which provide most Iraqi fresh waters, come from Turkey. Experts fear that climate change will be likely to exacerbate existing water shortages in Iraq.

Our position is that the water levels in the dams are at least, and at the same time, Iraq has received very little precipitation this year, “said Al-Sudani.

The two also discussed the stages to quickly implement the development road project – a large -scale infrastructure plan to connect the Persian Gulf to Turkey by building motorways and rail links from southern Iraq on the Turkish border.

The visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister comes after the PKKS imprisonment chief Abdullah Ocalan, called on his group to dissolve and disarm in a new peace initiative with Turkey. The group declared a unilateral ceasefire in March and should now hold a congress in northern Iraq, during which it would announce its dissolution, Turkish officials said.

The PKK, which has maintained bases in the Kurdish region semi-automobile in the northern Iraks, fought Turkey for an autonomous Kurdish state. The conflict has made tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s. Turkey and its Western allies have appointed the PKK a terrorist organization.

Al-Sudani said: We welcome the political process and the path of disarmament concerning the PKK.

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Abdul-Zahra reported to Baghdad.