Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met with his Iraqi counterpart, Abdul Latif Rashid, in Baghdad on the occasion of his official visit to the city.

Earlier, political analysts in Turkey called the visit of President Erdogan, who last visited Baghdad 12 years ago, historic. Information indicates that during the Turkish President’s stay in the Iraqi capital, more than 20 agreements will be signed.

The Turkish side attaches particular importance to two agreements:

• The first concerns the joint military response to the Kurdish rebels of the PKK, who use Northern Iraq as their base. Turkey and President Erdogan himself have announced that a major operation will be held by the Turkish Army in Northern Iraq in the summer to clear the area of ​​the PKK, thus Ankara is seeking the cooperation of Baghdad.
• The second important issue that Turkey requests from Iraq is the signing of an agreement for the creation of a road axis from Ankara that will connect the Persian Gulf with Turkey, creating a transport axis alternative and competitive to the planned commercial maritime and railway axis starting from India, crossing the Arabian Peninsula and Israel, ending up in the Mediterranean and from there in the ports of Greece and Italy.

For Iraq, which is suffering from a lack of water, the signing of an agreement for the supply of water by Turkey is of great importance, according to CNN Greece.

Also read: Iran | Support in Iraq over withdrawal of foreign forces

The meeting was held behind closed doors and few details were released about the content of the talks. According to the Directorate of Communication of the Turkish presidency, the Kurdish issue and the situation of Turkmen in Northern Iraq were among the main issues raised by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Turkish President was received at Baghdad airport by the Iraqi Prime Minister and other officials. Strict security measures were taken in the Iraqi capital for Erdogan’s arrival, which was also attended by the Turkish security services.

Erdogan was accompanied by Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, Interior Minister, Ali Erlikaya, Defence Minister, Yasar Guler, Energy Minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, other Ministers, MIT intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, Communications Director, Fahrettin Altun, and diplomat advisor to Akif Kagatai Kilic.

During his one-day visit, Erdogan will also meet with Prime Minister Mohammed Zia Al-Sudani, and after Baghdad, he will also visit Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish government in northern Iraq.

Also read: Iraq | Americans are about to leave for good