Ankara and Baghdad proceed to maintain momentum in relations in a brand new spherical of essential talks with the fourth assembly of the Türkiye-Iraq High-Level Security Mechanism scheduled for Thursday within the capital Ankara, in response to Turkish diplomatic sources.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will individually chair the primary assembly of the Joint Planning Group (JPG) together with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein on the identical day. The assembly goals to solidify the understanding reached in safety issues with further concrete steps and to strengthen the authorized framework for joint efforts.
The two nations share a prolonged border, which has been a crossing level into Türkiye for the PKK terrorist group. The safety assembly is predicted to deal with Türkiye’s efforts to wipe out the group and the menace it poses to Iraq.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s go to to Iraq on April 22 marked a turning level in Ankara- Baghdad relations. The Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) signed through the go to established the Joint Planning Group (JPG), co-chaired by the overseas ministers of each nations, and numerous technical Joint Permanent Committees (JPCs) to institutionalize and maintain cooperation. A one-on-one assembly between the 2 ministers can also be scheduled. The assembly will overview the implementation and standing of 27 agreements signed throughout Erdoğan’s visits and focus on additional steps for the JPCs. Preparatory conferences for the High-Level Security Mechanism and the JPG, together with a safety and counterterrorism JPC assembly and a JPG preparatory assembly led by Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz, have been scheduled on Wednesday.
The neighbors have lately been at loggerheads over Ankara’s cross-border navy operations in opposition to the PKK based mostly in northern Iraq’s mountainous area, which is managed by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Iraq has stated the operations are a violation of its sovereignty, however Ankara says they’re wanted to guard itself.
Ankara and Baghdad have thus far held three rounds of conferences as a part of the dialogue mechanism, with Iraq deciding to label the PKK a “banned organization in Iraq” through the newest talks held in March, a transfer welcomed by Türkiye.
On Monday, Defence Minister Yaşar Güler instructed Reuters that the current steps taken by Türkiye and Iraq when it comes to counterterrorism marked a “turning point,” including the technical work on establishing a joint operations middle for the area was ongoing. Güler additionally stated Turkey’s cross-border operations in northern Iraq would proceed till “the name of terror is wiped out from this region,” including that Ankara anticipated Baghdad to label the PKK a terrorist group as quickly as doable.
During then-Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdulmehdi’s go to to Türkiye in May 2019, Erdoğan and Abdulmehdi reached an understanding on strengthening the formal foundation of navy and safety cooperation between the 2 nations. Negotiations on this matter have been to be carried out by the overseas ministers, protection ministers and intelligence chiefs of each nations, with the primary assembly on this format held in 2019. However, the mechanism was placed on maintain for a interval on account of inner turmoil in Iraq and the COVID-19 pandemic however was revitalized following Fidan’s go to to Baghdad in August 2023.
The second assembly of this High-Level Security Mechanism cooperation platform was held in Ankara on Dec. 19, 2023, beneath the chairmanship of the overseas ministers of each nations. At the conclusion of the assembly, a joint assertion was issued wherein Iraq formally described the PKK as a “common threat” for the primary time.
The third assembly passed off in Baghdad on March 14, 2024, with the participation of Deputy Interior Minister Münir Karaloğlu. At this assembly, the “common threat” designation for the PKK was additional superior, with Iraqi officers saying that the National Security Council declared the PKK a “banned organization” in Iraq. Ankara’s satisfaction with this determination was mirrored within the joint assertion issued after the assembly.
Source: www.dailysabah.com