ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani is set to visit Turkey on Saturday, where he will meet with top Turkish leaders to discuss Erbil-Ankara relations and regional developments.

"The Prime Minister will meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and other senior officials at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul," read a statement from Barzani's office.

The Kurdistan Region and Turkey enjoy strong economic relations, with trade volume said to be over five billion dollars between Erbil and Ankara every year.

The visit comes as the region has been engulfed since February by the US-Israel war with Iran.

Despite maintaining a neutral stance, the Kurdistan Region has been targeted by hundreds of drone and missile attacks that have continued amid a fragile ceasefire between the warring parties.

Leaders in the Kurdistan Region have maintained a neutral position as their long-time allies in the US and neighboring Iran are entrenched in a bloody war. 

In early March, Erdogan praised the stance of neutrality taken by the Kurdistan Region’s leaders on the US-Israeli war on Iran, coming after US media reports speculated that Kurdish dissident forces were preparing a cross-border offensive into Iran.

Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Ankara, Erdogan said: "We welcome the statements made by our brothers in the Iraqi Kurdish region and wholeheartedly believe that they will not fall for this plot." 

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leaders have also proved supportive in the ongoing peace process between Ankara and the now-dissolved Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), with President Masoud Barzani in November vowing that Erbil will "support the peace process with all our strength."

Prime Minister Barzani last visited Turkey in January 2025.

The premier held a phone call with Turkish top diplomat Hakan Fidan in early March, during which the pair "agreed on the importance of preserving peace, stability, and security in the region."