Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Iraq on Monday for an official visit, his first in 13 years.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and a number of other officials received the Turkish president at the airport, and Erdogan is accompanied by a high-level ministerial delegation that includes the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, interior, trade, transport, agriculture, energy, and industry.
Erdogan is scheduled to meet with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and the prime minister, and the meetings will be followed by a joint press conference.
A range of bilateral agreements will also be signed, including two strategic agreements and more than 20 memorandums of understanding related to important files such as water, agriculture, economy, and trade.
The talks will address the proposed “development road” that will link the Gulf region with Turkey through Iraqi territory, as well as the issue of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), where Turkey has established dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan over the past twenty-five years to fight it.
Erdogan’s last visit to Iraq took place when he was prime minister, making this the first visit he visited Baghdad as president.
A delegation of Turkish businessmen and industrialists is preparing to visit Libya to discuss investment opportunities