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Erdoğan visits Baghdad: Turkey, Iraq set to sign 20 agreements

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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has arrived at Baghdad airport, in his first state visit to Iraq in 13 years. The Turkish president will meet Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, as well as Prime Minister Muhammad Shiya al-Sudani. A series of 20 agreements are set to be signed today. Erdoğan is accompanied by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, as well as several other ministers.

Erdoğan will then continue to Erbil (Hewlêr), where he is scheduled to meet the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Nechirvan Barzani.

Despite the recent fatal Turkish attacks, KRG authorities in Erbil hung flags to welcome Erdoğan:

Kurdish researcher Rojîn Mûkrîyan reacted on X: “This signifies nothing but the Barzani betrayal of the Kurds. It demonstrates nothing but the readiness of the Barzanis to be the genocidal partner to Erdoğan.”

Meanwhile, the Turkish military is in the process of launching a major new military offensive in Iraqi Kurdistan. On 18 April a Peshmerga fighter was killed by a Turkish aerial attack in Sidekan governorate.

Today’s talks in Baghdad are expected to signal new cooperation between Iraq and Turkey over the Turkish military’s intensification of aerial attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which have claimed the lives of ten Iraqi civilians this year. Turkish troops are also occupying northern Iraq, and have established 87 military bases in the region. Joint actions by Iraqi and Turkish forces are reportedly on today’s agenda.

Security cooperation between the Turkish state and Iraqi security forces will also be discussed.

This morning, commentators surmised whether Iraqi officials would call out Erdoğan over the deaths caused by Turkish attacks:

Veteran analyst Fréderike Geerdink provided her answer:

Iraqi Minister of Water Resources Aoun Diab Abdullah has indicated that a memorandum will be signed at the Baghdad talks relating to Iraq, Turkey and Iran’s ongoing dispute over water. The Turkish state has approved hundreds of dam projects on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which disrupt Iraq’s water supply. It has been estimated that Turkey’s dam-building plans will, when completed, decrease Iraq’s water flow by 80%. The Turkish government are likely to use Iraq’s water-sharing concerns to gain concessions in other areas.

The meeting is also set to discuss Israel’s attack on Gaza, the restarting of oil exports from Iraq to Turkey, and a road building mega-project aimed at opening a new trading route. Today’s talks are slated to increase imports and exports between the two countries. Iraqi-Turkish trade already stands at a record high.



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