UPDATE- Erdogan meets Iraqi Kurdish region's leader Barzani

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT FROM BARZANI'S OFFICE

By Halil Ibrahim Baser and Idris Okuducu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met the leader of Iraq’s Kurdish region Sunday in Istanbul.

The one-hour closed meeting between Erdogan and Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional Government, took place in Mabeyn Palace on the European side.

Economic ties and saving Mosul from Daesh terror group were the main topics, according to Barzani’s office.

On Wednesday, Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said about the meeting: "We have a lot to talk about.

“Iraq is important for us in all terms -- economically, in terms of border security and in humanitarian and cultural terms," he said.

Ankara has taken an active role in the international fight against Daesh in both Iraq and Syria. Turkish troops provide training to local fighters in Bashiqa, northeast of Mosul.

In Syria, the Turkish military announced Friday that the ongoing Operation Euphrates Shield has resulted in Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army wresting control of al-Bab -- 30 kilometers south of Turkey-Syria border -- from Daesh.