Turkey to Hand Over Bashiqa Base to Iraq Under Gradual Withdrawal Deal
Turkey will gradually hand over the Bashiqa-Zelikan camp in northern Iraq to Baghdad, while Iraq pledges to remove armed groups Turkey deems threats from Sinjar.
Turkey has agreed to gradually withdraw its forces from a strategic military base in northern Iraq and transfer control to the Iraqi government, following a meeting between the two countries' leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
The understanding was set out in a joint statement issued late Wednesday after talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi.
Under the arrangement, Turkish forces will progressively hand over the Bashiqa-Zelikan camp to the Iraqi federal government, in line with an agreed mechanism and timeline. The statement said the move reflected the security progress Iraq has achieved.
On its part, Iraq committed to extending the full authority of the Iraqi state over Sinjar, in the country's northwest, and to ending the presence of banned foreign armed elements there. Turkey has long urged Baghdad to curb groups linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and other non-state armed groups operating in the Sinjar region.
The Bashiqa base, Turkey's furthest military position from its own border, has been a persistent source of friction between Ankara and Baghdad. Turkey established the presence in 2015 to support operations against the Islamic State group and to help secure the area, but had not fully withdrawn its forces despite earlier discussions on their removal. Turkey maintains several other bases in northern Iraq for operations against the PKK.
The agreement comes amid wider shifts in the region. Earlier this month, the Iraqi government announced that the Sinjar Resistance Units, a Yazidi militia affiliated with the PKK, had agreed to disarm, with eligible fighters to be integrated into the Iraqi security forces. The group played a significant role in the fight against IS but was viewed by Turkey as a threat because of its PKK affiliation.
At the same time, the United States is winding down its decades-long military presence in Iraq, with officials saying the hundreds of troops remaining in the north will be out by a Sept. 30 deadline.
Turkey is also pursuing peace efforts with the PKK aimed at ending a decades-long conflict. The group, whose fighters have launched attacks on Turkish targets from bases in northern Iraq, has agreed to disband and lay down arms as part of that process.