DUBAI, UAE - Leaders of Iraq’s Coordination Framework are set to meet on Monday to discuss details of a recently signed security understanding between Baghdad and Ankara on cooperation in military and counterterrorism in the border regions of northern Iraq.

The defense ministers of Iraq and Turkey signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in mid-August in Ankara, following fourth meetings of the Turkey-Iraq High-Level Security Mechanism. The agreement, according to leaders of both sides, aims to strengthen efforts against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK,) a designated terrorist organization by Turkey and Iraq, which has maintained a military presence in the mountainous regions of the Kurdistan Region for the past four decades.

Both countries have repeatedly reiterated their commitment to combating the PKK, which they deem a mutual security threat. 

The MoU came amid increasing cooperation between Ankara and Baghdad, following the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to İraq in April. 

Today's Coordination Framework meeting will be held at the residence of Hadi Al-Amiri to review the details of the MoU, a senior official from the Coordination Framework told The New Region.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Qasim Al-Araji, Iraq’s National Security Advisor, and Falih Al-Fayyadh, head of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have been invited to the meeting. Both officials played key roles in signing the memorandum as representatives of the Iraqi government.

"The meeting will focus on evaluating Turkey's obligations and duties following the agreement and assessing its implications," the official said. 

He added that the Coordination Framework will issue an official stance following the discussions, particularly in light of Turkey’s continued military operations on the territory of Iraq, an issue which has triggered public anger, pressuring the Iraqi government to take decisive actions.

The Baghdad-Ankara MoU followed a recent surge in diplomatic engagement between the two nations, highlighted by a significant security summit in Baghdad and a series of new bilateral agreements.

The Baghdad summit resulted in the formation of permanent joint committees focused on key areas such as security, trade, agriculture, energy, and health. 

Following the signing of the MoU where Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan attended, the latter said the memorandum enhances coordination through joint training and intelligence centers, elevating bilateral security collaboration.

For his part, Iraq’s Hussein said Turkey had agreed to hand the Bashiqa military base over to Iraqi forces, with Turkey’s presidency after one week announced they had no plans to withdraw their boots from Iraq following claims made by opposition parties in the country suggesting Turkey had agreed to withdraw its troops from Iraq as part of the MoU. 

On grounds of training Sunni militia groups during the height of the ISIS war in Iraq, Turkey deployed its troops to Bashik, Nineveh north east of Mosul in 2014. They have stayed there ever since then, despite the territorial defeat of the militant group since 2017. 

Turkey has a strong military presence in the Kurdistan Region where it has over 70 military bases.

Local villagers and residents have borne the brunt of the PKK-Turkey conflict. 

Over 300 civilians have been killed over the past three decades amid the PKK-Turkey crossfire, according to an August report by the US-based Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a human rights organization and conflict monitor tracking these Turkish operations.