Turkey, Iraq laud cooperation, but major disagreements remain
Sudani on his first visit to Ankara, stressed the importance of Iraq’s sovereignty in the two countries' fight against terrorism.
ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Premier Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Tuesday lauded the cooperation between the two countries but reported only limited progress on the contentious bilateral rifts.
Sudani, who traveled to Turkey for the first time since he came to power in October 2022, met with Erdogan during a state visit to the country.
Speaking at a joint presser, the two leaders pledged to deepen their cooperation on a series of fields and announced the start of a major rail and highway transport project, but the talks yielded only a palliative compromise on one of the top contentious issues in the two countries' ties: the Turkish military presence in northern Iraq, and the water-sharing dispute on transboundary rivers shared by Turkey and Iraq.
“We’ve decided to increase the flow from the Tigris River for a month in a bid to alleviate Iraq's [water] problem,” said Erdogan. “We know that Iraq is facing an acute water shortage.”
