Ankara, March 30: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a major obstacle to further expansion of ties between Ankara and Baghdad.
“The main obstacle to stronger ties is a terror organization that has bases in the north… I wish that we fight this terrorist organization together,” AFP quoted Erdogan as telling Iraqi legislators in the capital Baghdad on Monday.
Late on Tuesday, the Turkish premier arrived in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq and went into talks with Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani.
His visit to the Kurdish region was the first by a Turkish prime minister, and on the second day of a two-day visit to war-torn Iraq.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony of the international airport in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, Erdogan said, “A strong Turkey means a strong Iraq, and a strong Iraq means a strong Turkey.”
He also announced that Turkish Airlines would next month begin scheduled flights to Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.
PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by much of the international community, including Turkey, Iran, the United States, and European Union member states.
Over 40,000 people have lost their lives since PKK launched its armed campaign against Ankara in 1984.
Ankara has repeatedly accused Iraqi Kurds of turning a blind eye to terror activities of PKK militants, who use the mountainous part of northern Iraq as their base against Turkey.
——–Agencies