Shafak News / The visit of the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, to Ankara to meet with the president and officials in Turkey comes at a time that reflects sensitive regional and international developments. It also gains importance at multiple levels, whether in the internal Kurdish framework, or at the Iraqi level in general, or in the Turkish and regional context, where the parties seek to enhance stability and understanding in light of the turbulent conditions in the region.
Observers assert that this visit by Barzani, the second visit to Turkey in the last six months, reflects the region’s strategy of maintaining strong and continuous relations with Turkey, as a major regional partner with wide influence and firm relations with both the Kurdistan Region and the federal government in Baghdad.
Although the statement of the presidency of the region indicated that Nechirvan Barzani is discussing during his Turkish visit to strengthen relations between Turkey, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, and discuss the latest developments in the region and common issues, the observers refer to many files of great importance on the Erbil-Ankara line, including political, economic and security aspects.
According to the official statement, Nechirvan Barzani and Erdogan stressed the importance of developing Turkey’s relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, especially in the economic field. He also discussed how to raise the level of trade exchange and promote Turkish job opportunities and investment in various regions of Iraq and the region. The Turkish president renewed his country’s continuous commitment to cooperation with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, expressing the readiness of the private sector in his country to work and invest in various sectors.
The statement pointed out that the two sides expressed concern about the complex situation in the Middle East and its possible repercussions on the region, and agreed on the need to work to prevent the expansion of the conflict and resolve issues by peaceful means.
President Nechirvan Barzani expressed part of his visit through a post posted on the X platform: “It was another productive meeting with my friend Foreign Minister Hakan Fedan, and Ibrahim Kalin today in Ankara. We have exchanged views on a variety of issues of common interest.”
Kurdistan elections
The visit comes four days before the Kurdistan Parliament elections, and some believe that Ankara is very concerned about the results of the elections in the region adjacent to its borders, with which it has multified relations. Therefore, Nechirvan Barzani, within the framework of his responsibilities as president, carries in his short visit the necessary reassurance messages, regardless of the results of the elections and what the ballot boxes will produce, stressing that Turkish-Kurdistan relations are of major priority and attention.
Observers say that President Nechirvan Barzani is fully concerned about the non-continuation of tension and apid apidness in the relations of other Kurdish forces, as the presidency of the region acts as a house that brings together everyone and is keen on their interests, with the aim of trying to contain those tensions and soften the atmosphere even with opponents in the elections, in addition to maintaining relations with Ankara.
Exchange visits
According to observers, President Nechirvan Barzani is building on the results of the historic visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad and Erbil last April, which came at a critical time in the region, highlighting the strong political, economic and security relations between Iraq, the Kurdistan Region and Turkey.
In addition to launching a new phase of security cooperation between Ankara and Baghdad, by banning the PKK’s military activity and finding mechanisms for cooperation and security coordination, Erdogan’s visit to Baghdad and Erbil also saw the launch of the strategic “development road” project, which Nechirvan Barzani realizes will change the map of interests, relations and prosperity at the entire regional level, which will be in the interest of Turks, Iraqis and the people of the region.
Nechirvan Barzani’s movement also intersects with external files, especially in light of the accelerated Iranian developments, since the killing of President Ibrahim Raisi, then the election of reformist President Masoud Bazhekyan and his personal attendance at the inauguration ceremony, benefiting from his old relations with the Iranians. The president of the region visited Tehran on May 5, where he met with Republican leader Ali Khamenei, a visit described by the Washington Institute as a shift in relations between the region and Iran, as the two parties have a firm interest in resolving some of the differences affecting the Iraqi political scene.
Developments in the region and American movements
Nechirvan Barzani understands the importance of the Iranian and Turkish roles in this sensitive regional moment, especially in light of the major Israeli attack on Lebanon a year after the outbreak of the Gaza war. These developments put Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in a critical position, and are likely to renew tensions in light of Israeli threats to launch attacks on Iran and its interests. Ankara and Tehran can be an important support for the region at this difficult point.
Another equally important point that the president of the region takes into account in his new visit to Turkey, came days after Washington and Baghdad announced their understanding on scheduling the deployment of American forces in Iraq, whose mission is supposed to end in two years, with a US force stationed in Erbil in the coming months.
It is important at this stage that coordination between Erbil and Ankara be strengthened on the US military role in the region, especially since this coordination is closely linked to the continued presence of US forces in Syria, where interests and influence overlap between the Americans, Turks, SDF forces, Russians, Iranian-backed factions, as well as the Syrian army.
Nichirvan Barzani is aware of the seriousness of the stage the region is going through, and takes into account the possibility of harming the interests of the Kurdistan Region, so his visit to Ankara and his talks with Erdogan and Fedan and Kalin are a clear attempt to avoid the worst and build on the most positive opportunities.
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