Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in remarks published on Tuesday he believed Iraq saw the need to eliminate the Kurdish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and had the will to do so, adding Ankara wanted Baghdad's support in that battle. Erdogan was speaking after talks in Baghdad and Erbil on Monday, the first visit by a Turkish leader to Iraq since 2011, following years of tensions as Ankara carried out cross-border attacks on PKK militants based in northern Iraq.
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Turkey summons Iran envoy amid row on military involvement in Iraq middleeastmonitor.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from middleeastmonitor.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on Thursday at the presidential palace.
The sudden visit of top Iraqi officials to Turkey led to speculation about the challenges ahead in the region that brought the two countries together.
Experts however drew attention to the shared security concerns between the two over the influence of autonomy-seeking Kurdish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants as the main driver of this top-level meeting.
According to Samuel Ramani, a Middle East analyst at the University of Oxford, a key subject during the meeting will be Turkey’s cross-border raids on the PKK in Iraq, which Baghdad views as a violation of its sovereignty but Turkey claims they are essential for its national security.