Guler held meetings with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani in Baghdad on Tuesday. The minister arrived in Erbil later in the day.
Peshmerga Minister Shoresh Ismail and a number of other Kurdish officials received Guler at the Erbil International Airport.
The Turkish defense ministry said in a post on X that Guler was accompanied by Metin Gurak, chief of the Turkish General Staff, in his visit to Baghdad and Erbil.
Ankara and Erbil enjoy great economic relations, and most of the Kurdistan Region's crude oil is marketed through Turkey's pipelines.
Guler is expected to hold meetings with Kurdistan Region’s top officials.
In Baghdad, Iraq’s president told the Turkish defense minister that Ankara must engage in dialogue to resolve bilateral security issues rather than violating Baghdad’s sovereignty.Millî Savunma Bakanı Yaşar Güler, beraberinde Genelkurmay Başkanı Orgeneral Metin Gürak ile gittiği Irak’ta, Bağdat temaslarını tamamlayarak Erbil’e geçti.#MillîSavunmaBakanlığı #YaşarGüler pic.twitter.com/0va56LZYYN
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) February 6, 2024
Sudani reiterated “Iraq’s rejection of any infringement of its sovereignty and any attempts to settle scores on its soil” in the meeting with Guler, adding that Iraqi territory must not be used to launch attacks on neighboring countries.
Turkey has carried out multiple military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region. In late December, Turkey carried out retaliatory airstrikes on alleged PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region and Syria after the group killed 12 Turkish soldiers in the Region’s mountains.
