BAGHDAD, April  22, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
was in neighbouring Iraq on Monday for his first state visit there in years,
with water, oil and regional security issues topping their agenda.
      
 Erdogan was greeted with a 21-gun salute at Baghdad's international airport
by Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani and later met Iraqi President Abdel
Latif Rashid.
      
 Erdogan last visited Iraq in 2011. His trip comes as regional tensions
spiral, fuelled by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and tit-for-tat
attacks between Israel and Iran.
      
 He told Rashid that Turkey "had expectations of Iraq regarding the fight
against the terrorist organisation PKK, and that Iraq must be rid of all forms
of terrorism", Erdogan's office said.
    
  The PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), which has fought a decades-long
insurgency against the Turkish state and is considered a "terrorist" group by
Ankara and its Western allies, has a presence in northern Iraq, as does
Turkey's military.
      
 Both Erdogan and Sudani on Monday stuck to their countries' positions on
contentious issues, while also highlighting the economic opportunities raised
by the visit.
      
 "We discussed joint measures that can be taken against the PKK and its
allies which target Turkish territory from inside Iraq," Erdogan said in an
appearance with Sudani.
       
"I shared with my counterparts my firm conviction that the PKK presence in
Iraq will end as soon as possible, with it being declared a terrorist
organisation," he said.
       
       - Presence of 'armed elements' -
    
       
      
 For decades, Turkey has operated from several dozen military bases in
northern Iraq against the PKK.
       
Its military operations, which sometimes take place deep into Iraqi
territory, have regularly strained bilateral ties, while Ankara has sought out
increased cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against the PKK.
       
Sudani on Monday spoke of "bilateral security coordination" that would meet
the needs of both Iraq and Turkey.
       He said this would "make it possible to face the challenges posed by the
presence of armed elements".
       However, in a televised interview in March, Iraqi Defence Minister Thabet
al-Abbasi ruled out "joint military operations" between Baghdad and Ankara.
       He said they would establish a "coordination intelligence centre at the
appropriate time and place".
       Apart from security another major contentious point is water, and sharing
of the precious resource.
       Baghdad has been highly critical of Turkish upstream dams on their shared
Tigris and Euphrates rivers, saying the reduced flow has worsened water
scarcity in Iraq.
       Erdogan said the water issue would be "one of the most important points" of
his visit following "requests" made by Iraq.
       "We will make an effort to resolve them. That is also their wish," he said.
       
       - Water 'framework agreement' -
       
       On Monday, both countries signed a 10-year "framework agreement" on water.
       Sudani said he hoped this would mean "joint and equitable management of
water resources" from the two rivers. "It is in no one's interest for the
situation to worsen regarding water and Iraq's quota," Sudani said.
       Erdogan said that both Turkey and Iraq were "negatively affected by the
climate crisis".
       "The efficient use of water and avoiding waste is as important as the
amount of water," he said.
       Also on Monday's agenda was the "Route of Development" project.
       This is a road and rail corridor that would stretch 1,200 kilometres (745
miles), aiming by 2030 to link the Gulf with Turkey via Iraq.
       In the presence of Erdogan and Sudani on Monday, four ministers
representing Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar signed a
memorandum of understanding on the $17-billion project, an Iraqi statement said.
       It said the project "aims to stimulate economic growth and enhance regional
and international cooperation through economic integration".
       During his trip, Erdogan is also scheduled to meet officials in Arbil, the
capital of northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region.
       
       - Lost oil revenues -
       
       Iraqi oil exports are another point of tension between the two countries,
with a major pipeline shut for more than a year over legal disputes and
technical issues.
       Oil exports were previously independently sold by the Kurdistan region,
without the approval or oversight of the central administration in Baghdad,
through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
       The halted oil sales represent more than $14 billion in lost revenues for
Iraq, according to an estimate by the Association of the Petroleum Industry of
Kurdistan which represents international oil companies operating in the region.
       In the first quarter of 2024, Iraq was Turkey's fifth-largest importer of
products, buying food, chemicals, metals and other products.