Iraqi PM Abdul-Mahdi to visit Turkey on Wednesday: Turkish official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday in Ankara to discuss “concrete subjects,” according to a special presidential envoy to Iraq, Veysel Eroglu.

Chairing a meeting of Turkish government energy, water and industry officials at the Turkish parliament on Saturday, Eroglu said what they are doing is “really a very important job because Iraq is our neighbor,” reported state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) on Friday.

 

It would be Abdul-Mahdi's first official visit to Turkey since becoming prime minister last year. 

"We are working well on water and energy related infrastructure, drinking water, purification, dams, ponds, irrigation systems, the economic use of water, counter-flood [measures], erosion control and other matters," he said during the meeting, AA reported.

Current Consul General to Mosul Mehmet Kucuksakalli also attended the meeting.

There were not any immediate statements from Abdul-Mahdi’s office regarding the visit.

The countries have established joint committees which meet in Baghdad and Ankara.

In late April, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited both Baghdad and Erbil, meeting with top officials including Abdul-Mahdi. 

Cavusoglu said that “trade barriers” between both countries must be removed and "we have plan to open a consulate in Basra, one in Kirkuk and one in Najaf," in addition to reopening their consulate in Mosul.

The Turkish FM added Turkey and Turkish companies "are keen to taking part in the reconstruction of Iraq and that Turkey has been the best helping side for Iraq." Ankara has offered $5 billion in credit for Turkish companies rebuilding in Iraq. 

Abdul-Mahdi at the time “Turkey is a dear neighbor and an important country in the region, and we have outstanding relations, many commonalities, economic interests, security cases, water, commerce, border, and fighting terrorists.”

Regarding the expected Erdogan-Abdul Mahdi meeting, Turkish President’s envoy to Iraq hoped Saturday’s meeting that he would be able to “prepare some concrete subjects and submit them to the president" in time for Saturday's meeting.

Both neighboring countries have been at loggerheads over water issues as Turkey said frequently said that it would stop water flow to Iraq to fills its own dams.

Their trade volume is around $10 billion but Erdogan had told his counterpart Barham Salih in Ankara in March that he hoped to double it.

The two countries have one official border crossing, Ibrahim Khalil, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s Duhok province. The route is strategically for Iraq as it is the most direct way to Europe for traders.

Iraq was Turkey’s fifth-largest importer in 2017, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Observatory of Economic Complexity. 

Related: What’s causing the Middle East water crisis?