Iraqi official sources have reported an upcoming visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Iraq with the aim of discussing unresolved issues between the two nations.
If Erdogan undertakes this visit, it will mark the first time a Turkish president has visited Iraq since Turgut Ozal’s visit in the late 1980s.
However, Erdogan has previously visited Iraq twice as Prime Minister during the tenure of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in 2008 and 2011.
While the water issue between Baghdad and Ankara remains long-standing, dating back over seven decades, Iraqi-Turkish relations have taken a new dimension since the change in Iraq in 2003.
Türkiye refused to allow the US and its allies to use the Incirlik Turkish base during the 2008 occupation of Iraq.
However, Türkiye approached the Iraqi issue from various angles, similar to how Iran handled it at a time when Iranian-US relations were negative, and both sides used Iraqi territory to settle their scores.
Although Türkiye benefited from its positive relationship with the US, it distanced itself from it regarding its agenda in Iraq.
While Tehran appeared to have friends among the Shia political elite in Iraq, Ankara had friends among the Sunni political class in the country.
Türkiye was also accused of controlling the Turkmen card in Iraq and influencing Kurdish affairs by pursuing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an opposition group, within Iraqi territory.
Türkiye, on the other hand, accused Iraq of harboring PKK elements within its borders and established military bases in several areas in northern Iraq.
This move complicated Türkiye’s relationship with the Kurds in the Kurdistan Region, as well as its relations with certain Shia factions that viewed Türkiye’s actions as an occupation of Iraqi territory.
While Erdogan can discuss numerous issues with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad, the most prominent ones will remain the water file, followed by the PKK issue.
