Erdogan arrived in Baghdad on Monday for a one-day visit during which he met with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani. He later traveled to Erbil to meet with President Barzani and Prime Minister Barzani. Erdogan is heading a delegation of at least eight ministers.
During the meeting, which took place in the Kurdistan Region’s presidency building, the leaders discussed Turkey’s relations with Baghdad and Erbil, especially in the fields of economy, trade, and security cooperation, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region presidency.
President Barzani “reiterated the Kurdistan Region's desire to further strengthen its ties with Turkey across all sectors, emphasizing that the Kurdistan Region should continue to be a source of stability and peace in the region,” read the statement from his office.
Prime Minister Barzani expressed the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) “readiness to advance joint economic and trade relations with Turkey,” also focusing on the opportunity for Turkish companies to invest in various sectors in the Kurdistan Region.
Following Erdogan’s meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, the two leaders announced that Baghdad and Ankara signed over 24 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) that encompass cooperation in various fields such as economy, trade, water, and security.
According to a statement from his office, Erdogan told the Kurdish leaders that the cooperation with Iraq also includes the Kurdistan Region, also revealing Ankara’s desire to improve trade relations with Erbil.
The Kurdistan Region relies on neighboring Turkey for the lion’s share of its trade and investment, its economy being heavily dependent on foreign imports of food and consumer goods, paid for with oil wealth.
Erdogan stated that “it is important to open the Ovakoy-Fishabur border crossing as soon as possible and to start vehicle passage through the Derecik-Zeti border crossing,” with the Kurdistan Region.
Inaugurated in May 2023, the Derecik-Zet border crossing is located in Zet village on the Kurdistan Region’s side and Derecik, or Rubarok town, in the Kurdish-majority province of Hakkari (Colemerg) on the Turkish side. In addition to the Derecik-Zet border, there are two other border crossings between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey, the main one being the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing in Duhok province.
Trade volume between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey is over five billion dollars every year.
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