Turkey, Iraq to hold new round of security talks in Ankara
14/8/2024 17:44
Senior Turkish and Iraqi officials will hold high-level talks in Ankara on Thursday to develop cooperation on security issues, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Wednesday. The neighbours have in recent years been at loggerheads over Ankara's cross-border military operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants based in northern Iraq's mountainous region. Iraq has said the operations are a violation of its sovereignty, but Ankara says they are needed to protect itself. Ties have improved since last year, when the two sides agreed to hold high-level talks on security matters, and after a visit in April by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad, where he said relations had entered a new phase. 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 organisation in Iraq" during the latest talks held in March -- a move welcomed by Turkey.
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