Turkish foreign minister arrives in Erbil

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan on early Thursday arrived in the Kurdistan Region's capital Erbil, where he is set to meet with top Kurdish officials. 

The Region's minister of interior, head of the foreign relations department, and Erbil governor received the Turkish diplomat at Erbil International Airport early Thursday. 

The foreign minister is set to meet with the Kurdistan Region's top officials, Kurdistan 24 has learned. 

The visit to Erbil comes as he had spent two days in Baghdad on an official visit to the country in his new capacity as foreign minister. He previously served as Turkey's spymaster. 

He has met with the Iraqi president, prime minister, and his deputy as well as speaker of parliament in Baghdad. 

A number of lingering issues have been the top agenda of the minister's meeting with Iraqi officials, including the resumption of Kurdistan Region’s halted oil export through the Turkish Ceyhan port; Iraq’s water quota from the major twin rivers of Tigris and Euphrates whose declining levels pose serious challenges to the environment; the ongoing conflict between Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish forces.

Ankara and Baghdad agreed to form a joint permanent committee to follow up on the issues of water, Fidan announced on Tuesday. 

While Hakan was in Baghdad, Iraq's oil minister visited Ankara to meet with his Turkish counterpart to discuss the resumption of the Kurdistan Region's oil exports. 

In March, Baghdad requested Ankara to halt Kurdish oil exports, after the Iraqi government claimed victory against Turkey at an international arbitration court in Paris.

Turkey has been ordered to pay Iraq $1.5bn for the damages while another case against Ankara is pending, per the court's ruling.