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Erdogan’s Visit to Baghdad to Mark Changing Point in Relations between Iraq, Türkiye 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters ahead of the local elections in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters ahead of the local elections in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Erdogan’s Visit to Baghdad to Mark Changing Point in Relations between Iraq, Türkiye 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters ahead of the local elections in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters ahead of the local elections in Istanbul, Türkiye, March 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Iraq and Türkiye are expected to deepen their relations when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pays a visit to Baghdad on Monday.

Ankara and Baghdad announced that the visit will witness the signing of a strategic framework agreement that covers security, economic and development affairs and the water and energy files.

An Iraqi government source confirmed on Thursday Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler’s announcement that the two neighbors will sign a strategic cooperation agreement on combating the operations of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Turkish Defense Ministry spokesperson Zeki Akturk told reporters on Thursday that Ankara will speed up Operation Claw-Lock against the PKK in northern Iraq.

On Tuesday, Erdogan said the water file will be one of the most important articles on his agenda in Baghdad.

The Iraqi source said Türkiye has been showing its readiness to cooperate in finding a mechanism to secure Iraq’s water share.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Development Road project, which it unveiled in 2023, will also be an important issue on Erdogan’s agenda.

Turkish Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Friday that an agreement has been reached over months of ministerial and technical discussions to form a joint mechanism that would follow up on the project.

He hoped that the United Arab Emirates and Qatar would become a part of it.

Turkish-Iraqi parliamentary discussions held in Ankara on Wednesday and Thursday concluded that it was in both countries’ best interest to jointly act to combat terrorism and bolster cooperation in economic and development fields, with Erdogan’s visit expected to mark a changing point in their relations.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.