A look at the new agreements between Türkiye and Iraq

According to the report of the international group Tasnim News Agency, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan headed to Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, yesterday at the head of a large delegation of ministers and advisers. After 13 years, this was Erdoğan’s first trip to Iraq, and besides the capital Baghdad, he went to Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and met with the heads of the region.

Yesterday in Baghdad and in the presence of Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, Iraq and Turkey signed 26 agreements and memorandums of understanding in the fields of security, trade, water, development and other fields.

Regarding the participation of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in the financing of the “Development Path” project, representatives from these two Arab countries were also present at yesterday’s ceremony in Baghdad.

What is Turkey’s main priority?

A look at the long list of agreements between Turkey and Iraq shows that many of them are merely of diplomatic importance and are signs of the parties’ determination to develop formal relations and inter-ministerial interaction. Let’s review the list of agreements together:

1. Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement between the Republic of Iraq and the Republic of Turkey.

2. Memorandum of understanding on the framework of coordination in the field of water between the government of the Republic of Iraq and the Republic of Turkey. 3. Memorandum of understanding on the project called “development route” between the Ministry of Transportation of Iraq and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure of Turkey.

4. Memorandum of understanding Joint Economic Trade Committee (JETCO) between the two ministries of commerce of Iraq and Turkey.

5. Agreement for the promotion, support and exchange of investment between the National Investment Board of Iraq and the Ministry of Industry and Technology of Turkey.

6. Memorandum Memorandum between the Union of Chambers of Commerce of Iraq and the Council of Foreign Economic Relations of Turkey.

7. Memorandum of understanding in the technical, scientific and economic field in the field of small and medium enterprises between the Ministry of Industry of Iraq and the Ministry of Industry and Technology of Turkey.

8. Memorandum of understanding in the field of military training between the two ministries of defense of Iraq and Turkey.

9. Memorandum of understanding on training in the field of military medicine between the two ministries of defense of Iraq and Turkey.

10. Memorandum of Understanding for Strategic Defense Coordination between the Iraqi War Industries Board and the Turkish Defense Industries Directorate.

11. Memorandum of understanding in the field of security coordination between the two ministries of interior of Iraq and Turkey.

12. Memorandum of Understanding between the Foreign Service Institute and the Turkish Strategic Studies Institute between the two ministries of foreign affairs of Iraq and Turkey.

13. Memorandum of understanding in the field of sports and youth between the two ministries of sports and youth of Iraq and Turkey.

14. Memorandum of understanding in the field of health and medical technology between the two ministries of health of Iraq and Turkey.

15. 2024-2025 Agriculture Working Group plan between the two ministries of agriculture of Iraq and Turkey.

16. Memorandum of understanding in the field of scientific and technological research between the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.

17. Memorandum of understanding on coordination in the field of education between the two ministries of national education of Iraq and Turkey.

18. Memorandum of understanding on coordination of tourism between the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Archeology of Iraq and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey. 19. Memorandum of understanding in the field of labor and social welfare between the two ministries of labor and Social affairs of Iraq and Turkey.

20. Memorandum of understanding in the field of social and family affairs between the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Family and Services of Turkey.

21. Memorandum of understanding in the field of documents and state archives, between the Ministry of Culture and the State Archives of Turkey.

22 Memorandum of understanding on product standards and technical trade barriers between the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Commerce of Turkey. Iraq and the Directorate of Religious Affairs of Turkey.

24. Memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of judicial education for students, judges, prosecutors and prosecutors between the Iraqi Judicial Institute and the Turkish Academy of Justice.

25. Memorandum of understanding in the field of electricity between the Ministry of Electricity of Iraq and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey.

26. Memorandum of understanding in the field of media and communication.

The above list shows that cooperation between Turkey and Iraq in The “Path of Development” project with the participation of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and the agreement in the fields of water and security are the most important things. However, there is still no news about the possibility of re-exporting oil to Turkey, and no news has been published about the possibility of exporting gas in the future.

Trying to increase the volume of commercial exchanges

Right now, a significant part of the food industry market, clothing And Iraqi furniture is in the hands of Turkish companies. But yesterday Erdogan also announced that the volume of trade exchanges of twenty billion dollars is not enough and the parties are looking to increase the level of exchanges.

Dylan Ghafoor, Head of Relations Committee In an interview with a television network, the foreigner of the Iraqi parliament announced yesterday: “The president of Turkey emphasized the importance of economic issues between the two countries and his country’s desire to increase the volume of annual trade with Iraq to 24 billion dollars in the joint press conference and also in the meeting of the delegations.” Announced. The volume of exchanges is now 15 billion dollars. Several solutions to increase the volume, including reducing taxes and removing restrictions on the import of some goods, were discussed. Another step that was discussed was the ratification of two international treaties, namely the treaties for the protection of Turkish investors and the avoidance of multiple taxes”.

Cooperation in the field of water

Turkey has strict control over the water of Tigris and Euphrates and this It is the same issue that has been protested many times by the Iraqi authorities.

In Erdoğan’s visit to Baghdad, in order to end the water disputes, the following points were emphasized:

– Development of understanding and cooperation in the field of water based on equality, goodwill and good neighborliness.

– Creating a new approach for implementing infrastructure projects and investing in water resources in Iraq.

– Adopting an approach for the fair allocation of water that crosses borders. /p>

– Creating an approach for reasonable use of water.

– Cooperation in joint projects of both sides in Better use of Tigris and Euphrates water.

– Inviting Turkish companies to cooperate in the infrastructure of irrigation projects such as building a dam and installing water collection systems, covering irrigation wells and Installation of water treatment plant and desalination and water purification projects.

– Implementing projects to exchange experiences and use new techniques.

The above evidence shows that Turkey plans to use the water card in the coming years, looking from top to bottom, and take control of important parts of Iraq’s water management.

Turkey’s expectations from Iraq in the field of security
as It was expected that the discussion on how to deal with the terrorist threats of the PKK was one of the most important topics of Erdogan’s meetings with Baghdad and Erbil officials.

Erdogan announced that if Baghdad declares the PKK as a terrorist organization, the life of this armed terrorist group in Iraq will end in the near future.

The Turkish president considered security and coordination in the fight against terrorism to be the main topics of his meetings in Baghdad, and at the same time called the PKK a threat to Turkey.

Erdogan, during his trip to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and in his meeting with the President and Prime Minister of the region, as well as meeting with Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, again mentioned the issue of dealing with the terrorist threats of the PKK.

Based on the strategic framework agreement, three permanent joint security, energy and economic committees will be formed between Iraq and Turkey. Türkiye expects the activity of the security sector to be more prominent and dynamic than other fields. But it is still not clear how much the cooperation mechanism between the defense and security committees of the two countries has a chance of success in the field of action.

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