Turkey, Iraq to hold new round of security talks in Ankara

14/8/2024 17:44

        Senior Turkish and Iraqi officials will hold high-level talks in Ankara on Thursday to develop cooperation on security issues, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Wednesday.
        
        The neighbours have in recent years been at loggerheads over Ankara's cross-border military operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants based in northern Iraq's mountainous region.
        
        Iraq has said the operations are a violation of its sovereignty, but Ankara says they are needed to protect itself.
        
        Ties have improved since last year, when the two sides agreed to hold high-level talks on security matters, and after a visit in April by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad, where he said relations had entered a new phase.
        
        Ankara and Baghdad have so far held three rounds of meetings as part of the dialogue mechanism, with Iraq deciding to label the PKK a "banned organisation in Iraq" during the latest talks held in March -- a move welcomed by Turkey.