ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani is visiting Ankara on Wednesday, where he is expected to discuss topics ranging from oil export to the war against the Islamic State. Barzani will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu in Turkey’s capital. Besides oil, the Kurdistan region has started to export its gas to the world market through Turkey. The officials will also focus on the Kurdish issue in Turkey and the peace process that is will affect the people of Turkey as well as neighboring countries. Turkish troops in Mosul and training of Peshmerga to combat ISIS will also be part of the talks. Earlier this week Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Barzani’s visit was scheduled before tension erupted between Baghdad and Ankara over Turkey’s deployment of more troops in Mosul province. Turkish soldiers were deployed to provide training for local forces in an area near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul last week, according to Ankara. Baghdad gave Turkish troops 48 hours to leave Iraq, following a meeting Sunday by Iraq’s National Security Council. Barzani said Tuesday that Kurdistan will remain neutral in a row between Baghdad and Ankara over Iraqi objections to Turkish troops training Peshmerga forces near Mosul. The Kurdistan region has developed close political and economic ties with Ankara in the past few years.
