Turkey to reopen its Mosul, Basra consulates

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that his country will reopen its consulates in the two Iraqi cities of Mosul and Basra which have been closed for four years.

Erdogan said that the consulates will be up and running in the next 100 days.

The reopening of the consulates is part of the Turkish president’s plan to accomplish 1,000 projects in the first 100 days of his presidency.

Most of the projects are in the fields of research, development, energy, economy, foreign policy and others.

Erdogan also said that he would assign a Turkish deputy commander to run his country’s NATO mission in Iraq.

The Turkish consulate in Mosul was taken by ISIS in June 2014 and Ozturk Yilmaz, the consul general along with 45 local and Turkish personnel were captured by the militants, but were later released.

When the ISIS threat reached other Iraqi provinces including the capital Baghdad Ankara evacuated its Basra consulate and its staff to Kuwait and from there to Turkey.

Turkey currently has an Embassy in Baghdad and a consulate in Erbil.