Top Turkish diplomat arrives in Erbil to talk security, water

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil early Thursday and was received by the Region’s interior minister and other officials, in his first visit to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region since becoming foreign minister. 

His arrival to Erbil came after he touched down in Baghdad on Tuesday and held talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, President Abdul Latif Rashid, and other officials. 

Fidan’s meeting with Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani started at around 10:20am local time and he is also set to later meet with Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. 

The Turkish foreign minister was received by Interior Minister Reber Ahmed, Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw, Head of Foreign Relations Office Safin Dizayee, and other officials at Erbil International Airport, a statement by the Erbil governor’s office said. 

He will discuss “several important issues” with Kurdish leaders, the statement added.

The visit is expected to discuss the outstanding issues surrounding the resumption of oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline - halted since March 23 after a Paris arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014. 

Kurdish and Iraqi authorities have repeatedly declared their willingness to resume the exports, saying the reason the process has not yet restarted is because Turkey wants to inspect and rehabilitate the port tubes that might have been damage following February’s earthquake.

Other topics on the agenda will include water supplies and the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region’s bordering areas with Turkey.

The PKK is a Kurdish group that has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey for decades and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, which has launched numerous operations against the group and its alleged offshoots in the Kurdistan Region and Syria. 

Iraq has long accused the PKK of using its territory to launch cross-border attacks into Turkey while simultaneously accusing Ankara of violating Iraqi sovereignty by maintaining an “illegal” presence in the Kurdistan Region on the grounds of fighting the PKK. 

In a press conference with Hussein on Tuesday, Fidan called on Baghdad to recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization, saying the group has infiltrated Iraqi cities and poses a threat to its security and stability. 

He called the PKK a “common enemy,” saying that Baghdad and Ankara must not allow the group “to poison our bilateral relations.”