TLTP
\nANKARA
\nIraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi arrived in Turkey on Thursday, the most high-profile visit by an official from Baghdad since Ankara launched a military operation in the summer against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
\nAl Kadhimi is scheduled to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials on Thursday. They will discuss \u201cboosting joint co-operation between Iraq and Turkey and other issues of common interests\u201d, according to a statement issued by his office.
\nTurkish forces launched an air and land offensive against fighters of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq in June and set up military posts.
\nThe PKK, which fought an insurgency in Turkey in the 1980s, is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
\nPKK fighters and Iraqi civilians were killed in Turkish artillery fire and air strikes on several locations in Iraq\u2019s north, including the town of Sinjar where the PKK maintained a presence after taking part in an operation to drive out ISIS. Baghdad has twice summoned Ankara\u2019s ambassador to Iraq to protest about the incursion.
\nTensions between Baghdad and Ankara increased in recent years over water shortages in the Euphrates and Tigris rivers as Turkey pushed ahead with its dam projects.
\nIraq\u2019s ambassador to Turkey, Hassan Al Janabi, said last week that Mr Al Kadhimi would discuss security, water and economic issues during his visit.
\nIraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who arrived in Ankara on Wednesday, said he discussed with his Turkish counterpart the presence of the PKK and the implementation of the latest agreement between Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdish region to enforce security in Sinjar by forcing the PKK to leave the city.
\nMr Hussein said trade between Iraq and Turkey was expected to rise to $17 billion this year from $15.8bn in 2019. He said the two sides would sign agreements in different areas, but did not specify them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP ANKARA Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi arrived in Turkey on Thursday, the most high-profile visit by an official from Baghdad since Ankara launched a military operation in the summer against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. Al Kadhimi is scheduled to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials on Thursday. They will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n