By Esra Tekin and Can Efesoy
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (AA) - The 4th meeting of the Türkiye-Iraq High-Level Security Mechanism will be held on Thursday in the Turkish capital Ankara, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.
The meeting aims to solidify the understanding reached in security matters with additional concrete steps and to strengthen the legal framework for joint efforts.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Iraq on April 22 marked a turning point in Ankara- Baghdad relations.
The Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA) signed during the visit established the Joint Planning Group (JPG), co-chaired by the foreign ministers of both countries, and various technical Joint Permanent Committees (JPCs) to institutionalize and sustain cooperation.
In addition, the first JPG meeting, co-chaired by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, is also planned on Thursday in Ankara.
A one-on-one meeting between the two ministers is also scheduled.
The meeting will review the implementation and status of 27 agreements signed during Erdogan's visits and discuss further steps for the JPCs.
Preparatory meetings for the High-Level Security Mechanism and JPG, including a security and counter-terrorism JPC meeting and a JPG preparatory meeting led by Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yılmaz, will be held on Wednesday.
-Ties between Türkiye- Iraq
During then-Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdulmehdi's visit to Türkiye in May 2019, Erdogan and Abdulmehdi reached an understanding on strengthening the formal basis of military and security cooperation between the two countries.
Negotiations on this matter were to be conducted by the foreign ministers, defense ministers, and intelligence chiefs of both countries, with the first meeting in this format held in 2019.
However, the mechanism was put on hold for a period due to internal turmoil in Iraq and the COVID-19 pandemic but was revitalized following Fidan's visit to Baghdad in August 2023.
The second meeting of this High-Level Security Mechanism cooperation platform was held in Ankara on Dec. 19, 2023, under the chairmanship of the foreign ministers of both countries.
At the conclusion of the meeting, a joint statement was issued in which Iraq officially described the PKK terror group as a "common threat" for the first time.
The third meeting took place in Baghdad on March 14, 2024, with the participation of Deputy Interior Minister Munir Karaloglu.
At this meeting, the "common threat" designation for the PKK was further advanced, with Iraqi officials announcing that the National Security Council declared the PKK a "banned organization" in Iraq.
Ankara’s satisfaction with this decision was reflected in the joint statement issued after the meeting.
Declaring the PKK a "banned organization" in Iraq represents a critical step in the context of counter-terrorism and security cooperation with Iraq.
The implementation of this decision on the ground is being closely monitored.