Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to make an official visit to Baghdad. A report in Iraq’s national Al Sabaah newspaper indicates that the visit is reportedly set to upgrade diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Iraqi government is “eager to resolve the sources of discord with Turkey, including the issue of armed groups”, according to Iraq’s Daily Sabah newspaper.
This comes at a time when Turkey is occupying a strip of land on the Turkey-Iraq border, up to 40km inside Iraqi territory and has established over 60 military bases in the area. The Turkish military is renewing its attacks against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), particularly in the Gara mountain area. Turkish airstrikes inside the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan are increasing.
A total of 358 airstrikes were carried out by Turkish forces in the border region from 1 January to 1 April this year, according to Community Peace Teams in Iraq. Turkish aerial attacks have killed at least 5 civilians so far in 2024. Erdoğan has announced that a “large-scale military operation” will commence soon in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The report in Al Sabaah quotes Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qassem al-Araji supporting Turkey’s campaign against the PKK ahead of the diplomatic meeting this month. Al-Araji is quoted as saying that armed groups must lay down their weapons “and end the situation promptly.”
The government in Baghdad announced a ban on the PKK last month. This move followed an earlier visit by a Turkish state delegation. However, the Iraqi state stopped short of declaring the PKK a terrorist organisation.