Iraq, Türkiye to Elevate Security, Economic Ties after Erdogan Visit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani shake hands as they attend a press conference, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani shake hands as they attend a press conference, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP)
TT

Iraq, Türkiye to Elevate Security, Economic Ties after Erdogan Visit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani shake hands as they attend a press conference, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani shake hands as they attend a press conference, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said relations with Iraq were entering a new phase after the neighbors agreed to cooperate against Kurdish militants, boost economic ties via a new trade corridor and consider Iraq's needs for access to scarce water.

Erdogan was in Iraq on a long-awaited visit, the first by a Turkish leader since 2011, following years of strained relations as Ankara ramped up cross-border operations against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants based in mountainous, mainly Kurdish northern Iraq.

"I shared my belief that the PKK's presence in Iraq will end. We discussed the joint steps we can take against the terrorist organization PKK and its extensions targeting Türkiye," Erdogan said at a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad.

The two countries agreed to a strategic framework agreement overseeing security, trade and energy as well as a 10-year deal on the management of water resources that would take Iraq's needs into account, Sudani said.

Sudani said the two countries would cooperate to bolster border security and act against non-state armed groups that could be working with terrorist organizations. He did not mention the PKK specifically.

An Iraqi government spokesperson said PKK members were welcome in Iraq so long as they did not engage in political activism or carry weapons. He did not elaborate.

The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies. Türkiye has conducted a series of cross-border operations against the group in northern Iraq since 2019.

Ankara plans a new swoop on the militants this spring and has sought Iraqi cooperation, in the form of a joint operations room, as well as recognition by Baghdad of the PKK threat.

"Iraq must eradicate all sorts of terror," the Turkish presidency said in a statement after Erdogan held talks with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, the most senior Kurdish official in Iraq.

Rashid said Baghdad backed joint work to fight terrorism and was against its territory being used to attack any neighbors, But Rashid opposed any attacks on its soil.

Iraq has in recent months tried to assuage Türkiye’s concerns about the PKK while pursuing its own agenda focused on growing economic ties and increasing access to scarce water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that originate in Türkiye, amid growing drought at home.

DEVELOPMENT ROAD

Iraq and Türkiye signed more than 20 MoUs during Erdogan's one-day visit on everything from cultural and agricultural cooperation to education and health, a statement from Sudani's office said.

Erdogan and Sudani also oversaw the signing of a four-way memorandum of understanding between Türkiye, Iraq, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for joint cooperation on Iraq's $17 billion Development Road project, with Qatari and Emirati ministers in attendance.

Launched last year, the 1,200-km (745-mile) road and rail project aims to turn Iraq into a transit hub, connecting Asia and Europe with a link between Iraq's Grand Faw Port in the oil-rich south and Türkiye in the north.

Türkiye’s bilateral trade with Iraq was worth $19.9 billion in 2023, down from $24.2 billion in 2022, official Turkish data showed. In the first three months of 2024, Turkish exports to Iraq rose by 24.5%, while imports fell by 46.2%.

After meetings in Baghdad, Erdogan was set to travel to Erbil, the provincial capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, for talks with Iraqi Kurdish officials.



Egypt Hosts Hamas in New Gaza Ceasefire Push, Looting Halts Aid

Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
TT

Egypt Hosts Hamas in New Gaza Ceasefire Push, Looting Halts Aid

Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo
Egyptian workers are seen in front of the new headquarters of Egypt's parliament in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) east of Cairo, Egypt June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh/File Photo

Hamas leaders held talks with Egyptian security officials on Sunday in a fresh push for a ceasefire in the Gaza war, two Hamas sources said, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene his security cabinet on the matter, two Israeli officials said.

The Hamas visit to Cairo was the first since the United States announced on Wednesday it would revive efforts in collaboration with Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza, that would include a hostage deal.

White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said he thought the chances of a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza were now more likely.

"(Hamas) are isolated. Hezbollah is no longer fighting with them, and their backers in Iran and elsewhere are preoccupied with other conflicts," he told CNN on Sunday, Reuters reported.

"So I think we may have a chance to make progress, but I'm not going to predict exactly when it will happen ... we've come so close so many times and not gotten across the finish line."

Palestinians say Israel's operations on the northern edge of the enclave are part of a plan to clear people out through forced evacuations and bombardments to create a buffer zone. The Israeli military strongly denies this and says it is fighting against Hamas.

The military says it has killed hundreds of Hamas militants in that part of Gaza as it fights to stop the faction regrouping. It has also lost around 30 soldiers there in combat with Hamas fighters over the past two months, a relatively high death toll.