Turkey and Iraq Agree to Gradual Handover of Turkish Base in Northern Iraq

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi met behind closed doors on Wednesday at the Turkish House building in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's high-level session, and agreed to a gradual transfer of a Turkish military base in northern Iraq to Baghdad. A joint statement said the two governments reached an understanding on establishing full state authority in Sinjar and ending the presence of banned foreign armed elements there, without naming the groups concerned. Turkish forces would gradually hand over the Bashiqa-Zilkan base to the Iraqi federal government, though the statement did not specify a timeline. The agreement also covers joint efforts to remove banned armed groups from the Sinjar region. The meeting was part of a series of bilateral talks Erdogan has held during the UN gathering this week. The handover, if implemented, would mark a notable shift in Turkey's long-standing military footprint in northern Iraq.

Global Impact

Geopolitically, the deal signals a recalibration of Turkey-Iraq relations and could reduce a long-running source of friction between Ankara, Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in the north. If Sinjar state authority is genuinely restored, it may weaken the operating space for armed groups there, with knock-on effects for regional security and displacement patterns.