ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Tuesday spoke on the phone, discussing boosting Ankara-Baghdad relations, according to readouts from their offices.
Turkey-Iraq relations were severely harmed in July when nine Iraqi tourists were killed in a bombardment in Duhok province, blamed on the Turkish army. Ankara denied any involvement in the incident but Baghdad took the issue to the UN Security Council and called on the neighbouring country to withdraw troops from Iraq.
Erdogan and Sudani discussed “ways to develop economic cooperation, mutual efforts to control common borders, and coordination to pursue terrorist groups,” read a statement from the Iraqi premier's office without mentioning any groups.
Erdogan’s office said that the Turkish president told Sudani that the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iraq “should be ended.”
The PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey and designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara.
Turkey has launched numerous military operations against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region in the last few decades, especially in recent years, despite calls from Baghdad and Erbil to end fighting.
Erdogan invited Sudani to visit Turkey and attend the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, which will be held in March. The Iraqi prime minister said he would accept the invitation “as soon as possible.”
Both leaders also touched on Iraq’s water share from both Tigris and Euphrates waters - which has been among pressing issues between both countries.
Water scarcity is a severe issue in Iraq. The country is the fifth-most vulnerable nation in the world to the effects of climate change, including water and food insecurity, according to the UN. However, the issue is exacerbated by the Turkish and Iranian damming of rivers that flow into Iraq, cutting off the increasingly dry nation from much-needed water relief. Ankara has built a mega-dam on the Tigris River.
Turkish Ambassador to Iraq Ali Riza Guney in summer absolved Turkey of any blame for worsening Iraq's water crisis, claiming that Iraq needs to maximise its water efficiency as "water is largely wasted in Iraq." Iraqi authorities deemed the statement “incorrect.”
