Türkiye to establish joint operations centre with Iraq: defence minister

Türkiye is looking forward to future collaboration with Iraq, including the establishment of a joint operations centre, Turkish National Defence Minister Yasar Guler has said.

During his visit to Iraq's capital Baghdad, the Iraqi government took the significant step of officially banning the PKK and recognising it as a terrorist organisation for the first time.

“After this, we will have joint work. We will establish a joint operations centre,” Guler said on Wednesday during a visit to Kahramanmaras province in southern Türkiye, where he paid a visit to Kahramanmaras Governor Mukerrem Unluer.

Guler said terrorism is the scourge of Türkiye, highlighting it as a major challenge for the country, and emphasised the nation's resilience.

“We live in the most expensive land in the world. There will be a price for this. ... We have all kinds of minerals. We have human resources. Of course, this bothers everyone. Plus, our country's rapid development and growth in recent years, especially in the last 20 years, disturbs everyone around us,” he said.

He emphasised that some segments disturbed by Türkiye’s rapid growth use terrorist organisations to hinder this situation and that the country must always be strong.

Positive stance of Erbil administration

Regarding the PKK conflict spanning four decades, Guler expressed disappointment in the Iraqi government's historical reluctance to recognise and ban the PKK.

“We have been fighting the PKK terrorist organisation for 40 years. But unfortunately, for 40 years, the Iraqi government could not call them a terrorist organisation or ban them. Such an organisation lives in their own country and they do not feel any discomfort,” he said.

“We had a meeting in Ankara in December. Of course, this issue was emphasised very much in that meeting, and when we went to Iraq during our last trip to Baghdad, the Iraqi administration accepted and declared for the first time that the PKK is a terrorist organisation," he added.

Citing the positive stance of the administration in Erbil, Guler also emphasised that efforts extend beyond combating terrorism.

“There will be new commissions established regarding energy, agriculture, animal husbandry, water affairs and similar areas, and we will continue our efforts to achieve progress in all these areas through mutual cooperation,” he said.

He also highlighted the significance of the Development Road project linking the Gulf to Europe via Türkiye.

“This is the most important task for Türkiye’s future. In this project, all Turkish companies will preferentially do business there. Alongside four highways and four railways, all goods coming from China will be transported to Europe via the Development Road,” Guler stressed.