Erdoğan to visit Iraq by “end of this year” — Turkish FM

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is due to visit Iraq by the end of this year to attend a high-level strategic cooperation council meetings between the two countries, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Sunday.

The High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council was established in 2008 with the aim to develop cooperation between the two countries.

“President Erdoğan will visit Iraq to hold the 4th High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting toward end of this year,” Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Çavuşoğlu as saying at a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart Mohamed Ali al-Hakim in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Çavuşoğlu said his talks with al-Hakim tackled means of promoting bilateral relations in different fields and regional issues of mutual concern.

Speaking about the Astana peace process in Syria, Çavuşoğlu said: “We took a decision to invite Iraq and Lebanon as observer countries,” expressing hope that Iraq, an important country in the region, would play a constructive role in Syria.

Relations between Turkey and Iraq had been hit by a series of Kurdish-related issues over the past years.