A high-ranking Turkish delegation consisting of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defense Minister Yasar Guler, as well as MIT intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, will visit Baghdad tomorrow. A key item on the agenda is dealing with the presence of the Kurdish PKK organization along the shared border from the side of Iraq.
The representative of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oncu Ketseli, announced the visit by clarifying that tomorrow’s meeting Turkey-Iraq for security will be held in the same format as the previous one in Ankara, last year on December 19. Soon, a visit to Baghdad by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected.
“At tomorrow’s talks, security and military cooperation issues will have priority on the agenda. The development of a common understanding in the fight against terrorism and the steps that can be taken in this direction will be put on the carpet,” said Mr. Ketseli, recalling that the joint statement published after the last security summit emphasized that the PKK is a common threat to both countries. “We are glad that the PKK is recognized as a common security threat by the Iraqi authorities and we see this as a sign of the determination that is beginning to develop on the Iraqi side to fight the PKK,” he added.
Ankara has expressed its determination to end the PKK’s presence in the region this summer and is seeking joint action with Baghdad, from which it has recently received positive messages. The outcome of the talks with Iraq is considered important because it will define the framework within which the new operations of the Turkish armed forces in northern Iraq will evolve.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a recent speech that the PKK would be eliminated from northern Iraq by the summer, a statement interpreted as a harbinger of a military operation. Baghdad was visited last month by the Minister of Defense Yasar Güler, accompanied by the Chief of the Turkish General Staff, General Metin Gürak. The head of the MIT, Ibrahim Kalin, was also in the Iraqi capital a few days ago, while the commander of the 3rd Army, Lt. Gen. Metin Tokel, an officer who is considered to be deeply knowledgeable about Kurdish and has operational responsibility in the region, yesterday had contacts with Iraqi officials regarding security at the border and inside Iraqi territory.
In contrast to the previous operations of the Turkish forces against the PKK, this time Ankara is estimated to act in coordination, perhaps together with the Iraqi forces. In previous years, Turkey was talking with the government of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, while this time it is negotiating with the central government of Iraq in Baghdad. The ultimate goal is, as stated, the creation of a security zone 30 to 70 km deep inside Iraqi territory where there will be no presence of the PKK. Turkey is pushing to create a similar zone in northern Syria as well, i.e. a neutral zone that will extend along its borders with Syria and Iraq, with a total length of approximately 1,300 km, without the presence of Kurdish forces or organizations that it considers a threat to the her safety.
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