Erdogan and Al-Zaidi agree on the gradual withdrawal of the Turkish army from Iraq
Ankara and Baghdad agreed that Turkish forces would gradually hand over the Zelikhan camp to the Iraqi government and end the presence of "banned armed elements" in northern Iraq.
The agreement, announced by both sides following talks in New York on Wednesday, served as a reminder of the security and political conflict stemming from the presence of members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the city of Sinjar.
The Zelikhan base is located east of Mosul in the Ba'qouqa area, while Sinjar is situated west of Mosul near the Syrian border. Although geographically separate, both locations are part of a single security theater in Nineveh.
Following a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, both sides announced in a joint statement their agreement to enhance security cooperation.
In the statement, they said the two sides "agreed to fully extend the authority of the Iraqi state in Sinjar and end the presence of banned foreign armed elements," referring to Kurdish militants, some of whom are stationed in the mountainous region of Sinjar in northern Iraq.
The statement continued: "In light of the progress Iraq has made through its security measures, Turkish forces will gradually hand over the Ba'qouqa-Zelikhan camp to the Iraqi federal government, in accordance with the agreed-upon mechanism and timeline." The facility is located near Mosul.
Reuters cited an Iraqi military commander familiar with the talks, stating that the gradual withdrawal of Turkish forces from the Ba'qouqa camp and another small base near Mosul is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Observers say that the Turkish withdrawal from Zelikhan should coincide with the implementation of the normalization agreement in the town of Sinjar.
The federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government signed a security and administrative agreement on October 9, 2020, aimed at restoring stability to Sinjar and normalizing the security situation by eliminating armed presences and securing the return of displaced persons to the district in Nineveh province.
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack, welcomed the move, stating that it serves both "Iraqi sovereignty and Turkish security."
Turkey established its presence in Zelikhan in the context of the war against the Islamic State (ISIS), and the camp later became one of the military presence points also linked to confronting the PKK.
Ankara views Sinjar as part of the PKK's network of deployment, which could link its bases in Iraq with its areas of influence in Syria.
