Iraq and Turkey Reach Security Agreement for Turkish Troop Withdrawal

According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, a security source in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq announced that an agreement has been reached between Turkish and Iraqi parties regarding the withdrawal of Turkish forces from the Bashiqa and Zlikan bases and their handover to the Iraqi army by the end of this year. The source added that the fate of other Turkish bases in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq remains undetermined. These developments occur as Turkish soldiers have been stationed in northern Iraq for years. The Bashiqa base was established in 2015 with the aim of training Iraqi forces to combat ISIS. Over the past years, the scope of Turkish military presence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has expanded, and Turkey’s operations against elements of the dissolved PKK party have prompted internal protests in Iraq.