PM Yıldırım to visit Baghdad

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım will make an official visit to Iraq’s Baghdad on the weekend. Yıldırım is expected to meet with his Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi.

The premier was invited to Iraq on Friday by the Iraqi Embassy in Ankara.

Turkish and Iraqi troops are preparing for a possible operation in northern Iraq by taking part in drills simulating critical deployment measures in hostile areas, in addition to training against enemy attacks and ambushes.

Turkey’s military drills were launched three kilometers away from the border in the southeastern Silopi region in the early hours of Sept. 18, a week before the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) non-binding independence referendum.

Iraqi soldiers arrived in Turkey on Sept. 23 for joint military exercises due to be carried out the following day in Habur.

On Sept. 25, Iraqis in KRG-held areas -- and in several areas disputed between Baghdad and Erbil -- voted on whether to declare independence from Iraq.