Turkiye, Iraq agree on military pact against Kurd separatists

Turkiye and Iraq agree on military pact to combat Kurdish separatists, including joint training and command centers

Turkiye said on Thursday it had agreed on a military cooperation pact with Iraq that will see joint training and command centres against Kurdish separatists, with Baghdad saying it will ban the PKK as a party.

“We are going to raise our cooperation to the highest level thanks to joint command and training centres included in this agreement,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after meeting in Ankara with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein.

He welcomed “Iraq’s growing awareness about the PKK”.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK has been involved in an on-and-off armed insurgency against Turkiye since 1984.

Labelled a “terror organisation” by Turkiye, the United States and European Union, the PKK has bases in northern Iraq from where it launches attacks into Turkiye.

Mr. Hussein said the presence of PKK forces in northern Iraq poses “a danger for the Kurdistan region and other Iraqi cities” and poses a threat to Iraqi society.

Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region runs along the border with Turkiye.