Turkish foreign minister's visit to Iraq
What are the mutual expectations and leverages between Turkey and Ankara?
As Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is currently in Iraq to hold talks with Iraqi federal and Kurdistan Regional Government officials over a range of issues, take a moment to check out this analysis that I wrote last month for the Foreign Policy Research Institute about the challenges and struggles in Iraq-Turkey relations (click on the hyperlink above or here: https://www.fpri.org/article/2023/07/water-and-climate-change-will-shape-iraq-turkey-relations/).
Rather than dismissing other important factors such as energy and security, the piece argues that water and climate change will overshadow other elements as Iraq’s greatest vulnerability and Turkey’s major pressure card against Baghdad.
Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan speaking during a press conference in Baghdad. Photo courtesy of Reuters (via Al Jazeera English).