Turkey to hand over northern Iraq military base and pull back forces

Turkey will gradually pull its forces out of a key military base in northern Iraq and hand control over to the Iraqi government. The decision follows a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The Deal Details

Under the joint statement released after their Wednesday meeting, Turkish forces will phase out their presence at the Bashiqa-Zelikan camp based on an agreed timeline and mechanism. In return, Iraq has promised to clear out armed groups from the Sinjar region in northwestern Iraq that Turkey views as security threats. Both nations also agreed to extend full state authority across Sinjar and remove banned foreign armed groups.

Background And Context

The Bashiqa base has been a point of dispute for years because Turkey kept its forces there despite past talks on pulling them out. Turkey first set up a military presence at the site back in 2015 to back operations against the Islamic State group and secure the area. Bashiqa is Turkey's furthest base from its own border, though it runs several other bases in northern Iraq for operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Turkey has long pushed Iraq to stop groups linked to the PKK from operating in Sinjar. Iraq stated earlier this month that the Sinjar Resistance Units, a Yazidi militia tied to the PKK, agreed to give up their weapons so qualified fighters could join the Iraqi security forces. This militia helped fight the Islamic State group but worried Turkey due to its PKK ties.

Wider Changes

The deal comes as the United States wraps up its long military stay in Iraq, with remaining troops scheduled to leave by a September 30 deadline. At the same time, Turkey is working on peace talks with the PKK to end a long-running conflict, and the group has agreed to disband and drop its weapons.