Turkey and Iraq sign accord on terror and security co-operation

Iraq and Turkey signed new a security agreement on Thursday as the neighbouring states increase counter-terrorism co-ordination.

The agreement came after ministers from the two countries held security-focused talks in Ankara – part of continuing closer collaboration after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s first visit to Iraq in 13 years last April.

The agreement, a non-binding memorandum signed by the Turkish and Iraqi defence ministers, is in addition to 27 other agreements on trade and other bilateral ties confirmed during Mr Erdogan’s trip, a Turkish and an Iraqi official confirmed to The National.

The two sides pledged to establish a joint security co-ordination centre in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and turn an existing Turkish military base in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh into a “joint training and co-operation centre”, according to a Turkish diplomatic official.

“All of these centres will enable the two countries to work together in the fight against terrorism, especially the PKK,” a Turkish diplomatic official said.

The military base is called the Bashiqa camp, where Turkey trains and equips rebels to fight ISIS. Since 2014, Turkey had posted troops near the city of Mosul to counter the group.

The PKK refers to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a separatist Kurdish militia that has fought a 40-year conflict against the Turkish state, and which Ankara lists as a terrorist organisation.

The PKK grew in Turkey in the 1980s and while it has largely been routed from Turkish soil, it has since established bases across northern Iraq, as well as partner organisations in Kurdish-majority areas of Syria and Iran.

Turkey has consistently pushed Iraq to take firmer action against the PKK; the group enjoys support in some communities in Iraq.

In a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on Thursday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein emphasised recent steps Iraq has taken against the PKK, including banning the organisation in March.

It has not officially listed the group as a terrorist organisation,

Mr Fidan, speaking alongside Mr Hussein, said the deal signed by the defence ministers of either side carried “historic importance”, while Mr Hussein said it was “the first in the history of Iraq and Turkey” in this field.

“Through the joint co-ordination and training centres planned in this agreement, we believe we can take our co-operation to the next level,” Mr Fidan said.

“We want to advance the understanding we are developing with Iraq on counter-terrorism through concrete steps on the ground."

Mr Hussein said Iraq will “move against everything that harms the interests of neighbouring countries from our territories".

In recent years, Baghdad and Ankara have been at loggerheads over Turkey's cross-border military operations against the PKK.

Iraq has said the operations breached its sovereignty, but Turkey has insisted that they are needed to protect itself and its territories.