Report prepared by Shafiq Al-Obaidi… Today, during the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad, relations between Iraq and Turkey entered a new, long-awaited phase of fruitful cooperation after Baghdad and Ankara repeatedly affirmed their sincere desire to enter this phase and turn the page on the past.

The visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Iraq for the first time in about 13 years is a major transition in the relationship between the two countries, which over the past years has undergone tensions due to a number of outstanding issues between them, perhaps the most important of which is the water issue, as Iraq suffers, especially in the summer season, from scarcity. There is a significant decline in the water levels of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which come from Turkish territory.

The security issue represented by the presence of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases in northern Iraq is one of the problems that both Iraq and Turkey suffer from, as the Turkish army
has been waging an open war since the eighties of the last century against the PKK’s militants in northern Iraq.

The energy issue is one of the important files for which new agreements must be concluded to solve some of the outstanding problems resulting from the cessation of pumping Iraqi oil through the pipeline passing through the Kurdistan region to Turkish ports.

The water file is considered by Iraq among the most important files, as there are tensions over water resources and the construction of dams on the common rivers between the two countries, namely the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as the Iraqi government fears the impact of the construction of Turkish dams on the flow of water to Iraq.

Although the water crisis in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is not new, Turkey, as the upstream country, has a geographical and strategic advantage represented by full control over each of these two rivers in the face of the other two countries downstream, Syria and Iraq.

The water problem between Iraq and Turk
ey emerged for the first time in the mid-seventies of the last century, after Turkey completed the construction of Keban Dam – one of the huge dams – and stored water in it, which led to a significant water shortage in Iraq, and ended with the Ilisu Dam, which opened in 2018.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s confirmation that the water issue will be one of the most important items on his agenda during his upcoming visit to Iraq came to add an aspect of satisfaction and positivity to Iraq, as Erdogan indicated that they are studying requests submitted by the Iraqi side regarding water, stressing that they will seek to solve this problem with them.

Erdogan said in this regard: They want us to solve it and our steps will be in this direction. There are also issues related to the flow of natural gas and oil to Turkey, and we will seek to address them as well.

As for the presence of Turkish military bases in the regions of Iraqi Kurdistan, this issue presented the problem of the legal justification for
these bases inside Iraqi territory, and their use by Turkey as starting points for carrying out military operations against elements of the PKK inside Iraqi territory.

Turkey claims that it has the right to establish military bases inside Iraqi territory in accordance with a security agreement between the two countries signed in 1984, while Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein explained that there is ‘an official report signed by the then Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz with his Turkish counterpart in 1984 regarding allowing “Turkish forces may enter Iraqi territory for one year only, within a distance not exceeding 5 kilometers.”

In 2022, Iraq announced, ‘More than 22,000 Turkish violations of Iraqi lands have been recorded since 2018, and that the Iraqi government submitted 296 notes of protest against Turkish interventions.’

To reassure the Iraqi side, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler announced this month that Ankara and Baghdad are heading to sign a strategic agreement for the first time in many y
ears, indicating that ‘activities related to combating terrorism are continuing and an agreement can be signed with the Iraqi side to resolve the existing problems in this aspect.’

For his part, Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim Al-Araji said, ‘Erdogan’s visit will conclude with the signing of important memorandums of understanding within the framework of the strategic relationship and partnership in the fields of transportation, energy, security, economy, and cooperation of businessmen in the two countries.’

He added in a press statement, “Erdogan’s visit to Iraq will be a qualitative leap in the level of relationship, understanding and cooperation between the two countries, since Iraq is keen to end the causes of the dispute, including resolving the issue of the armed groups that are attacking both countries, something that the Iraqi Constitution rejects in its entirety and in detail.”

Al-Araji stressed that “members of these groups must lay down their arms and end this situation as quickly as possib
le.”

Regarding the development road project, the Turkish Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, confirmed that upon completion of the development road project, which passes through Iraq and Turkish territory, the process of shipping goods will decrease to only 25 days.

Uraloglu explained in a televised statement yesterday, Sunday, that the movement of ships passing through the Suez Canal takes 35 days, and more than 45 days through the Cape of Good Hope, but when the development road is completed, the time will decrease to 25 days.

The Turkish Minister announced that the first phase of the project will be operated next year, noting that they plan to build 1,200 km of railways, highways, energy transmission, and a communications line within the scope of the project.

He pointed out that within the framework of the project, a railway line will be built from the village of Ovakoy on the border with Iraq to Europe, stressing that national and international transport projects are of
vital importance to Turkey.

It is noteworthy that the “Development Road” project is a land road and railway extending from Iraq to Turkey and its ports. The length of the road and railway is 1,200 kilometers inside Iraq, and the project aims to transport goods between Europe and the Gulf countries.

For his part, Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani stressed, during his stay in the United States, that the visit of the Turkish President is not a passing visit, indicating that for the first time we find that there is a real desire among Iraq and Turkey to go to solutions and not to transfer files.

He stressed not allowing Iraqi territory to be a starting point for attacks on Turkey, nor allowing a direct response without coordination with Iraq, indicating that he would discuss with the Turkish President the status of solutions to the water issue.

It is expected, according to what was announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, that more than 20 agreements will be signed with Iraq during the visit o
f Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad today, Monday.

Fidan said in a press statement yesterday, Sunday: ‘Our primary goal is to develop relations with Iraq so that regional stability, prosperity and development are possible, to institutionalize our relations, and to do everything we can to develop order and prosperity in the region.’

He added: “We completed preliminary agreements to sign more than 20 agreements during President Erdogan’s visit to Baghdad.

In this context, he referred to the work that has been ongoing for a long time between the two countries in areas including security, energy, agriculture, water, health and education.

He explained that President Erdogan will meet Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani in Baghdad, where a working meeting will be held, and agreements will be signed after that.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency