Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is planning to visit neighboring Iraq soon, Prime Ministry sources have said. Officials were reluctant to specify an exact date due to security reasons, reported World Bulletin.
The visit is expected to take place in the coming weeks, they said, without elaborating. The prime minister is likely to pay a one-day visit to Baghdad without a prior announcement.
The visit will follow recent talks in Baghdad between Erdoğan's chief foreign policy advisor, Ahmet Davutoğlu and top Iraqi officials, including President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Davutoğlu, accompanied by Turkey's special envoy for Iraq Murat Özçelik, then told Iraqi officials about the prime minister's intention to visit the neighboring country.
Iraq's territorial integrity, the status of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq are expected to be discussed during Erdoğan's talks in Iraq.