Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar paid a surprise visit to Baghdad on Thursday, meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Gen. Othman al-Ghanimi and Iraqi Defense Minister Irfan al-Hayali.

After being welcomed with an official ceremony at the Iraqi Defense Ministry in Baghdad by al-Ghanimi, Akar held a meeting with al-Hayali.

Following the meeting, delegations from Ankara and Baghdad discussed bilateral relations between the two countries.

Akar's visit comes after Turkey and Iraq pledged to strengthen cooperation in the fight against the PKK terror organization.

Back in January, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and his Iraqi counterpart Haidar al-Abadi held a phone call in which both sides expressed their desire to maintain recently-developed bilateral cooperation in several areas, such as the fight against Daesh and PKK terror, in addition to trade, energy, and water.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its armed campaign against Turkey in July 2015.

Since then, it has been responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including a number of women and children.