With relations gaining momentum with the visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister to Iraq, Baghdad is looking forward to advancing them. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein spoke to Anadolu Agency (AA) on the sidelines of the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on various issues, including energy, security and fight against the PKK terrorist group.
Hussein said Türkiye and Iraq need to cooperate more in some areas, especially security issues, noting that a visit by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would help advance ties between the two countries.
"We have a multidimensional relation with Türkiye. We are really eager to have President Erdogan in Baghdad and Iraq in general. It has been a while since he was in Iraq, I think it was three years ago. So the relation between both sides is good. And I think his visit will push this relation further and will advance ties between both the countries. So we expect a lot from his visit," he said. Hussein said though relations were good, there were some "issues," but the sides should deal with them together. "We need more cooperation on some issues, especially on security issues," he said.
On energy cooperation and the issue of oil transfer through Türkiye, Hussein said that it affected relations, but they were determined to find a solution to the issue through dialogue and communication.
Türkiye suspended Iraq’s 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil exports through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline on March 25 after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The ICC ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages worth $1.5 billion over what it said were unauthorized exports by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) between 2014 and 2018. Türkiye, on the other hand, said the ICC had recognized most of Ankara’s demands. Its Energy Ministry said the chamber ordered Iraq to compensate Türkiye for several violations concerning the case. Multiple high-level talks between Türkiye and Iraq have been held since last week, but negotiations have not yielded results.
On the issue of the PKK terrorist group, which has hideouts in Iraq’s north and efforts to render it ineffective, Hussein stated that the Iraqi constitution did not allow any group to operate on Iraqi soil against any other country. They had a "clear position" on the issue, adding that it was, however, "very complicated." Responding to the question of why Iraq did not designate PKK as a terrorist group, the minister downplayed it and said what mattered more was how to solve the problem while protecting the security of Türkiye and the sovereignty of Iraq at the same time. "I think, through negotiations, we can reach an agreement (to solve this problem)," he said.