Iraq's new premier meets Erdogan in Ankara to discuss pipeline, trade and security

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi arrived in Ankara for a series of meetings with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish officials. Central to the discussions is a pipeline that would run from southern Iraq’s Basra through Haditha to the Ceyhan port in Turkey and potentially to Syria’s Baniyas, offering an alternative export route away from Gulf tensions. The talks will also address wider cooperation on security, trade, energy, transportation and water resources.

Al-Zaidi’s itinerary follows recent trips to Washington and Tehran, and comes after U.S. companies signed roughly $60 billion in agreements with Iraq. Turkey is simultaneously working on legislation to advance a peace process with the PKK, whose insurgency has spanned decades. The combined diplomatic and economic agenda highlights the growing strategic partnership between the two neighbours.