Ankara Hosts Today The First Meeting Of The Turkish-Iraqi Joint Cooperation And Planning Group

The Turkish capital Ankara is hosting the first meeting of the Turkish-Iraqi Cooperation and Planning Group today, Thursday, headed by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. The Turkish Foreign Ministry stated in a post on its account on the X platform, "that the preparatory meeting for the Turkish-Iraqi Joint Planning Group was held yesterday, Wednesday, in Ankara, headed by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz and his Iraqi counterpart Muhammad Hussein Bahr al-Ulum. The Turkish Foreign Ministry indicated in its statement that "the progress of implementing the signed agreements to institutionalize relations between the two countries, the activities of the joint standing committees and priority areas of cooperation were discussed during the meeting." Turkish diplomatic sources stated that the fourth meeting of the Turkish-Iraqi high-level security mechanism will discuss the possibilities of strengthening the unity of understanding that was developed with the Iraqi side in the security field with additional concrete steps." The sources indicated that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein will chair the first meeting of the Turkish-Iraqi Joint Planning Group and the fourth meeting of the Turkish-Iraqi High-Level Security Mechanism. During his visit to Iraq on April 22, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the strategic framework agreement for joint cooperation between the two countries, under which the Turkish-Iraqi Joint Planning Group was established. The Turkish Foreign Ministry explained in its statement that the meeting will be chaired by the foreign ministers of the two countries, and will be attended from the Turkish side by Defense Minister Yashar Guler, Head of the National Intelligence, Ibrahim Kalin, and Deputy Interior Minister Munir Karaoglu, along with their Iraqi counterparts. Relations between the two countries had witnessed a clear improvement last year when the two sides agr eed to hold high-level talks on security issues, and after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Baghdad in April, where he said that relations had entered a new phase. Iraq and Turkey have held three rounds of meetings within the framework of the dialogue mechanism, and Baghdad decided to classify the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a "banned organization in Iraq" during the last talks held last March, in a move welcomed by Ankara. According to sources in the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the meetings are expected to discuss the implementation of 27 agreements signed during Erdogan's visit, and they will evaluate further joint initiatives. Last Monday, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler confirmed that the recent steps taken by Turkey and Iraq regarding the fight against terrorism represent a "turning point" and that technical work on establishing a joint operations center for the region is ongoing. Turkey, the United States and the European Union classify the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), w hich has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, as a terrorist organization, and more than 40,000 people have been killed in this conflict, according to official Turkish sources. Source: National Iraqi News Agency