Iraq, Turkey to sign over 20 deals during Erdogan’s visit: Minister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Sunday that Ankara expects to sign over 20 deals when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits Iraq on Monday.

“We have completed the preliminary agreements for the signing of more than 20 agreements during our president's visit," Fidan told journalists at a press conference in Istanbul.

“Tomorrow when he is there he will sign the agreements with [Iraqi] political leaders,” he said.

The agreements will be in various fields such as security, energy, agriculture, water, health and education, according to Fidan.

Erdogan said on Friday that during his visit in Baghdad he will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and President Abdul Latif Rashid. He will also travel to Erbil to meet with leaders of the Kurdistan Region.

Kurdish oil exports, water issues, border security, and the Development Road, a multi-billion dollar road and rail project stretching from southern Iraq to the border with Turkey, are the main topics expected to be discussed during Erdogan’s visit.

"One of the most important agenda items of our visit is the water issue. They [Iraq] have made some requests regarding water, and we are working on these issues. We will make efforts to resolve this issue with them. They already want to resolve this matter. We will take steps in this direction," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara last week.

Baghdad has complained that Ankara has cut the flow of water in shared rivers, which Turkey has dammed, contributing to water shortages in Iraq.

"There are also issues regarding natural gas and oil flow to Turkey, and we will try to address them," Erdogan said.

Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad that Ankara had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014. 

Despite several talks between Kurdish, Iraqi, and Turkish officials, the exports have yet to resume and many international oil companies have suspended production. Billions of dollars in revenue have been lost.

Border security and the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the mountainous areas of the Kurdistan Region are also expected to be discussed.

Fidan was joined by Defense Minister Yasar Guler and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) head Ibrahim Kalin on a visit to Baghdad last month for the second round of security talks with their Iraqi counterparts. The first round was held in Ankara in December. A joint statement issued following the meeting said they are working on making Erdogan’s trip “historic” and “successful” and that they hope it will result in a “qualitative shift” in bilateral ties. 

A day following the meeting, Iraq announced that it had designated the PKK a “banned organization.” 

A day after the ban, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the umbrella organization that the PKK is part of, said that the greatest threat to Iraq was Turkey and accused Erdogan of wanting to invade and occupy areas of Iraq, including Mosul and Kirkuk, in an attempt to revive the Ottoman Empire. 

Erdogan said last month that Ankara is close to completing a zone that will “permanently resolve” security issues along their border with the Kurdistan Region and Iraq by the summer.