PM Yıldırım meets with KRG leader Barzani in Ankara

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani had a meeting as part of his visit to Turkey on Monday afternoon. The closed-door meeting between the two leaders lasted for one-and-a-half hours.

Yıldırım and Barzani discussed Mosul, Bashiqa and further regional developments at Çankaya Palace in Ankara, the leaders' third meeting in the past two months.

Prior to his meeting with Yıldırım, the KRG leader also had a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday in Istanbul. The one-hour closed meeting between Erdoğan and Barzani had taken place at Mabeyn Palace on the European side. According to sources, it had been reported that the situation of Mosul and Tal Afar, the PKK terrorist group's presence in Sinjar and its new military headquarters in Irbil were the topics that were expected to be discussed.

Furthermore, the latest developments in Syria and the peshmerga's possible participation in the Raqqa operation as well as economic cooperation between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdistan region had also been discussed during the meeting. According to sources, Barzani said, in reference to the meeting with the two leaders, the meetings went pretty well and all the regional developments were discussed with the leaders.

On a different note, Prime Minister Yıldırım and KRG leader Barzani had unexpectedly met to discuss the ongoing issues as part of the Munich Security Conference on Feb.19. Furthermore, Yıldırım and Barzani had a meeting on Jan. 8 during Yıldırım's Iraq visit in Irbil. Regarding the fight against the PKK, Yıldırım said that Turkey does not allow PKK presence in Iraq's Sinjar region.