President Barzani meets Erdogan in Ankara to discuss regional stability

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Wednesday held high-level talks with senior Turkish officials in Ankara, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ahead of the long-awaited Kurdistan parliamentary elections. 

“I am delighted to have met with President @RTErdogan once again in Ankara. Our visit covered a range of issues, including enhancing regional stability and further strengthening the ties between the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and Turkiye,” President Barzani said on X. 

A later statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency said the meeting discussed economic opportunities between Turkey on one hand and Iraq and the Kurdistan Region on the other. 

“The Turkish president reiterated his country’s continued cooperation with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and the readiness and desire of the private sector to work and invest in different sectors,” the statement said. 

Barzani arrived in Ankara on Wednesday for high-level talks with Turkish officials, including Erdogan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Ibrahim Kalin. 

During the meeting with Fidan, both sides “discussed the development of Turkey’s relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, the situation in the Middle East and its consequences, and several other issues of common interest,” the Kurdistan Region Presidency said in a statement. 

Dilshad Shahab, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region Presidency, said the visit will “engage in discussions regarding the advancement of Turkey’s relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, as well as the recent developments in the wider region, while also sharing perspectives on other issues of mutual interest,” according to a Presidency statement.

The visit comes six months after Erdogan visited Erbil - his first to the Kurdistan Region in his tenure as president - and discussed ties with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. During his visit, he met with senior Kurdish leaders including President Barzani and Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. 

Selim Ensarioglu, an independent Turkish MP for Istanbul and former member of the ultranationalist IYI party, labeled President Barzani’s visit as “very valuable” and said it comes at a strategic time. 

“I believe that President Barzani’s visit to Turkey at this time is very meaningful. I’m genuinely pleased and also thank our esteemed President Erdogan,” Ensarioglu told Rudaw on Wednesday, calling for greater unity between Turks and Kurds. 

The lawmaker called for greater dialogue between Turkey’s ethnicities, as well as expanded cooperation with neighboring countries such as Iraq, Iran, and Syria. He praised Barzani for “having chosen the right path” through visits to Ankara.

Ensarioglu also touched on the Kurdish-Turkish peace process, with talks between the government led by Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) at a standstill. 

“Undoubtedly, the peace process cannot be achieved through armed means but rather through dialogue and within the parliament,” he said, praising AKP’s far-right ally and leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli for his recent gesture in parliament. 

In early October, Bahceli made an unprecedented gesture by greeting members of the DEM Party in parliament. He extended his hand to DEM party co-chair Tuncer Bakirkhan and MPs Sezai Temelli, Pervin Buldan, and Sirri Sakik.

“It is important that Mr. Bahceli be involved in this process. We must all be a part of it. That means that if there are shortcomings in democracy, justice, and freedoms in Turkey, this is not just a Kurdish issue but a Turkish issue as well,” Ensarioglu said. 

“It is unacceptable to pull down a member from the podium and cause chaos during their speech. If a member of parliament cannot freely express their views, then it loses its meaning,” he added, with ultranationalist Turkish lawmakers routinely inciting chaos during speeches of pro-Kurdish lawmakers. 

DEM Party is routinely accused of being the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

In 2013, the AKP government entered into peace talks with the PKK, paving the way for an unprecedented opening towards Kurds in the country. Kurdish politicians were able to speak freely about their rights, a topic that was previously taboo. The peace talks, which were mediated by DEM Party’s predecessor the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), collapsed in 2015 and were followed by intense urban fighting in the country’s southwestern Kurdish areas.

The Kurdistan Region relies on neighboring Turkey for the lion’s share of its trade and investment, its economy being heavily dependent on foreign imports of food and consumer goods, paid for with oil.

The trade volume between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey stands at over five billion dollars a year.