Ankara and Baghdad continue to sustain momentum in relations in a new round of critical talks with the fourth meeting of the Türkiye-Iraq High-Level Security Mechanism scheduled for Thursday in the capital Ankara, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will separately chair the first meeting of the Joint Planning Group (JPG) with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein on the same day. The meeting aims to solidify the understanding reached in security matters with additional concrete steps and to strengthen the legal framework for joint efforts.
The two countries share a lengthy border, which has been a crossing point into Türkiye for the PKK terrorist group. The security meeting is expected to focus on Türkiye's efforts to wipe out the group and the threat it poses to Iraq.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Iraq on April 22 marked a turning point in Ankara- Baghdad relations. The Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) signed during the visit established the Joint Planning Group (JPG), co-chaired by the foreign ministers of both countries, and various technical Joint Permanent Committees (JPCs) to institutionalize and sustain cooperation. A one-on-one meeting between the two ministers is also scheduled. The meeting will review the implementation and status of 27 agreements signed during Erdoğan's visits and discuss further steps for the JPCs. Preparatory meetings for the High-Level Security Mechanism and the JPG, including a security and counterterrorism JPC meeting and a JPG preparatory meeting led by Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz, were scheduled on Wednesday.
The neighbors have in recent years been at loggerheads over Ankara's cross-border military operations against the PKK based in northern Iraq's mountainous region, which is controlled by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Iraq has said the operations are a violation of its sovereignty, but Ankara says they are needed to protect itself.
Ankara and Baghdad have so far held three rounds of meetings as part of the dialogue mechanism, with Iraq deciding to label the PKK a "banned organization in Iraq" during the latest talks held in March, a move welcomed by Türkiye.
On Monday, Defence Minister Yaşar Güler told Reuters that the recent steps taken by Türkiye and Iraq in terms of counterterrorism marked a "turning point," adding the technical work on establishing a joint operations center for the region was ongoing. Güler also said Turkey's cross-border operations in northern Iraq would continue until "the name of terror is wiped out from this region," adding that Ankara expected Baghdad to label the PKK a terrorist organization as soon as possible.
During then-Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdulmehdi's visit to Türkiye in May 2019, Erdoğan and Abdulmehdi reached an understanding on strengthening the formal basis of military and security cooperation between the two countries. Negotiations on this matter were to be conducted by the foreign ministers, defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of both countries, with the first meeting in this format held in 2019. However, the mechanism was put on hold for a period due to internal turmoil in Iraq and the COVID-19 pandemic but was revitalized following Fidan's visit to Baghdad in August 2023.
The second meeting of this High-Level Security Mechanism cooperation platform was held in Ankara on Dec. 19, 2023, under the chairmanship of the foreign ministers of both countries. At the conclusion of the meeting, a joint statement was issued in which Iraq officially described the PKK as a "common threat" for the first time.
The third meeting took place in Baghdad on March 14, 2024, with the participation of Deputy Interior Minister Münir Karaloğlu. At this meeting, the "common threat" designation for the PKK was further advanced, with Iraqi officials announcing that the National Security Council declared the PKK a "banned organization" in Iraq. Ankara’s satisfaction with this decision was reflected in the joint statement issued after the meeting.
