Iraq and Turkey hold high-level talks on security and energy as Erdogan prepares for Baghdad visit

Iraq and Turkey held high-level talks in Baghdad to discuss co-operation in areas including security and energy before an expected visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan next month.

The Turkish delegation comprised Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler, and Ibrahim Kalin, the head of the country’s MIT intelligence agency, its Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met Mr Fidan and conducted “political consultations”, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Iraq’s Defence Minister Thabet Al Abbasi and National Security Adviser Qasim Al Araji also attended the meeting.

Falih Al Fayyadh, chairman of the Popular Mobilisation Forces – a network of Tehran-backed militias in Iraq that has been integrated into the country’s security framework – and Rebar Khalid, Interior Minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, which borders Turkey and Iran, also attended the talks.

Iraq and Turkey have clashed over several issues in recent years, including Ankara’s cross-border operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish dissident group active in Turkey but with bases in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

Iraq has said the operations violate its sovereignty, but Turkey says it must protect itself and has warned of further incursions into Iraqi territory.

“Security and military co-operation will be a priority during the talks,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said.

“The PKK being defined as a common security threat by Iraqi authorities is a sign that the desire to battle the PKK is developing in Iraq, and we welcome this.

“Developing a common understanding in counterterrorism and concrete steps that can be taken in that regard will be on the table.”

The PKK is designated as a terrorist group by the US and the EU. It took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the insurgency.

Baghdad and Ankara are also at odds over oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdish region through Turkey, the subject of a long-running dispute between the Iraqi federal and Kurdish regional governments.

Turkey last year halted the flow of about 500,000 barrels a day through a pipeline from the Kurdish region after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce, which ordered Ankara to pay compensation to Baghdad for unauthorised exports between 2014 and 2018.

Ankara later started maintenance work on the pipeline, which accounts for about 0.5 per cent of global crude supply.

The two countries agreed to wait until a maintenance assessment on the pipeline was complete to restart flows while still engaging in a legal battle on arbitration awards.

“We said last October that the flows could begin on this pipeline, that there is no issues for us. However, we understand the Iraqi side is not yet ready,” Mr Keceli said.

“We want for all the parties in Iraq to reach an agreement within the framework of mutual dialogue and understanding, and for flows on this pipeline to resume as soon as possible.”

Baghdad and Ankara are also at odds over oil exports from Iraq’s northern Kurdish region through Turkey