Important Security Summit Between Türkiye and Iraq
The capital Ankara hosted a historic meeting yesterday. The summit, where security issues with Iraq were discussed, started with the first meeting of the “Türkiye-Iraq Joint Planning Group”. Following this meeting, the fourth meeting was held within the framework of the “High Level Security Mechanism”. The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hüseyin. In addition, Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler, MİT President İbrahim Kalın, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Münir Karaloğlu and their Iraqi counterparts were also present at the meeting. The latest status of the 27-article agreement signed between the two countries was evaluated. Common areas of cooperation and military relations between the two countries, especially issues such as the fight against terrorism and border security, were discussed in detail.
TRAINING CENTER WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN BASHIKA
It was decided to establish a Joint Security Coordination Center in Baghdad and a Joint Training and Cooperation Center in Bashiqa between Turkey and Iraq in order to fight against terrorism, especially the PKK. Diplomatic sources stated that these centers will allow both countries to make joint efforts, especially in the fight against the terrorist organization PKK.
A JOINT MECHANISM HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED
After the critical summit, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hüseyin held a joint press conference. Fidan said, “The Memorandum of Understanding on Military, Security Cooperation and Counter-Terrorism between Turkey and Iraq was just signed by the Defense Ministers of the two countries. This agreement has historical significance. “We believe that we will take our cooperation to a higher level through the Joint Coordination and Training Centers,” he said.
WE GAINED STRENGTH IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS
Emphasizing that the relevant institutions carried out important work together with Iraq for the memorandum of understanding, Fidan said, “We are implementing the concrete outcomes of this effort together with our Iraqi brothers. Recently, we have intensified our mutual contacts at both political and technical levels. We strengthened our relationships. We crowned this positive development with our President’s historic visit to Iraq last April. “The 27 agreements and memorandums of understanding signed during this visit were the most important manifestation of our common will,” he said.
A NEW COMMISSION WILL BE ESTABLISHED FOR FOLLOW-UP
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein stated that the signed memorandum of understanding is important and that such processes are not easy. Hüseyin said, “A memorandum of understanding is easy to write and prepare, but its implementation is important and requires extensive work. “With the agreement, a permanent commission will be established by the two countries to follow up this memorandum of understanding,” he said. Emphasizing that this agreement is a first between the two countries, Hüseyin said, “We aim to further our bilateral relations through these commissions. “We have good relations, but we want to improve them,” he added.
VISA FREEZING APPLICATION
Hakan Fidan stated that the cooperation covers trade, energy, water, education and military issues and said: “The institutionalization of our contacts takes place through these committees. The joint planning group we created with the framework agreement will supervise these committees and direct their work. The visa liberalization practice agreed upon during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Baghdad will also be implemented. “We have decided to start visa liberalization for our Iraqi brothers under the age of 15 and over the age of 50 as of September 1.”
