BAGHDAD — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was set to make his veryfirst main see to Iraq in more than a years on Monday as his nation looksfor higher cooperation from Baghdad in its battle versus a Kurdish militant group that has a grip in northern Iraq.
Other concerns likewise loom big inbetween the 2 nations, consistingof water supply problems and exports of oil and gas from northern Iraq to Turkey, which haveactually been stopped for more than a year.
Erdogan’s last see to Iraq was in 2011, when he was Turkey’s prime minister.
Iraqi federalgovernment representative Bassem al-Awadi stated in a declaration that Erdogan’s checkout will be a “major beginning point in Iraqi-Turkish relations” and will consistof the finalizing of a offer on a “joint method to security difficulties” and a “strategic arrangement on the water file,” amongst other concerns.
Erdogan has stated his nation strategies to launch a significant operation versus the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a Kurdish separatist motion prohibited in Turkey and with operations in Iraq, throughout the summertime, with the objective of “permanently” removing the hazard it postures.
Turkey has brought out various ground offensives versus the group in northern Iraq in the past while Turkish jets often target presumed PKK targets in the area.
Ankara now intends to produce a 30- to 40-kilometer (19 to 25-mile) deep security passage along the joint border with Iraq, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler informed reporters last month.
The group, whose battle for an self-governing Kurdish state in southeast Turkey has declared 10s of thousands of lives giventhat the 1980s, is thoughtabout a terrorist company by Turkey and its Western allies.
Baghdad has grumbled in the past that Turkish operations versus the PKK break its sovereignty, however appears to be