Iraq–Turkey relations

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will pay a visit to Iraq next month in a move to further reinforce recently mended bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries.

Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani met with Turkish government figures in Ankara and Istanbul on Dec. 19, amid efforts to boost cooperation against Islamist jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

Iraqi Kurdistan plans to strengthen its relationship with Iran, the prime minister of the semi-autonomous region said yesterday in an acknowledgement of the deepening ties between Arbil and Tehran.

The Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (TÜPRAŞ) has bought 520,000 barrels of oil brought to market by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said late on Dec. 11.

Turkey is a guarantor for energy peace between Baghdad and Arbil, according to the head of an international energy company operating in Iraq.  

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu met his Iraqi counterpart Haidar al-Abadi in Baghdad Nov. 20, as long-strained ties between the two countries improve.

Davutoğlu was given an official welcome at the main palace in the heavily fortified Green Zone, after which he held talks with Abadi, the Iraqi premier's office said, without providing further details.

A senior Iraqi official has expressed the new Iraqi government’s intention to demand the money collected in a Turkish bank over the Kurdistan regional government’s unilateral sale of oil through Turkey that sparked a row between Ankara and Baghdad during Nouri al-Maliki’s rule.

Turkey and Iraq vowed to leave their sour past behind them and rejuvenate their relations during an official visit to Ankara by Iraq’s foreign minister.

Well, the issue is not only about Kurds, it is also about the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the ISIL, and the Turkish stance on the future of Iraq and Syria

Since the foundation of a “core coalition” including Turkey was announced at the NATO Summit last week, we are all wondering what this “coalition” means, what its mission will be and what is expected from Turkey.