Turkey, Iraq sign military cooperation agreement - army statement

The Memorandum of Understanding, or MoU, was signed in the capital Ankara by Deputy Chief of Turkish General Staff Gen. Hasan Igsiz and his Iraqi counterpart Nasier Abadi, the army said in the statement. Â

Proceedings for the MoU, which envisages cooperation on military training and technical issues, had been going on for over a year, it added.

Separately, Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was to hold talks with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan later on Wednesday in Ankara.

 

The two neighboring countries have intensified relations that have been hit by security concerns.

 

Ankara has sought close ties with Baghdad to enlist Iraqi support against the terror organization PKK, whose members use northern Iraq as a base for launching attacks in Turkey.

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Turkish warplanes, provided with intelligence by the United States, have bombed PKK hideouts in northern Iraq since December 2007 under a parliamentary authorization which expires in October.

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Last year, Turkey, Iraq and the United States formed a joint committee in the northern Iraqi province of Arbil to track the threat posed by the PKK and enact measures to curb the terrorists.

 

Photo: AA