Speaking at a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al Sudani on Monday in Baghdad, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said his visit to Iraq and the agreements they signed with the Iraqi government would be a turning point for their relations.
Erdoğan has arrived in the Iraqi capital early on Monday for a one-day visit, his first since 2011.
As he began his speech at the news conference, Erdoğan thanked Iraqi “brothers and sisters who made me feel at home.” The president said Iraq was a valuable neighbor and they had the will to improve their relations based on joint interests.
Erdoğan, who was accompanied by a large number of ministers, said the agreements signed during his visit was part of a solid road map for cooperation, highlighting the importance of the Development Road deal he signed with the Iraqi prime minister.
The president stated that they decided to set up joint permanent committees for cooperation in many fields, from counterterrorism, economy, health, and transportation to education.
Counterterrorism dominated Erdoğan’s talks in Iraq and the president said they discussed joint steps to be taken on the matter. He said Türkiye appreciated Iraq’s move to declare PKK a banned organization and was ready to endorse any steps Iraq would take to declare it as a terrorist group. “We will move forward in (the fight) against the PKK together,” he said. “The PKK’s presence in Iraq will end soon,” he added. Erdoğan noted that Türkiye cannot allow attacks from Iraqi soil to another country.
Erdoğan said they also discussed increasing the bilateral trade volume and underlined that they were ready to contribute plans to improve the welfare of Iraq. He said they also discussed the water issue and acknowledged that they were aware of it amid a climate crisis affecting the whole world.
As with his talks with other regional leaders, the Palestine-Israel conflict loomed in Erdoğan’s discussions in Iraq. “We are doing everything to stop the bloodshed, and today, we discussed steps to that extent. Tensions between Israel and Iran aggravates the risk of a spillover of the conflict and overshadows (Israel’s) massacre in Palestine. Türkiye continues its efforts for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said.
The president said his next stopover was Irbil and he would also hold talks with the “Turkmen brothers and sisters” in Iraq’s north. “Türkiye does not discriminate among any ethnic and religious community in Iraq. We view Iraq as a whole,” he said.
The two countries signed 24 memorandum of understanding during Erdoğan’s visit.
