Turkey plans phased transfer of Bashiqa base to Iraq
Turkey will transfer control of its Bashiqa-Zilkan military base in northern Iraq to Baghdad, according to a joint statement issued by the Turkish presidency. The handover will take place gradually under an agreed mechanism and timetable after progress on Iraqi security measures.
Turkey will hand over control of its military base at Bashiqa in northern Iraq to the Iraqi government, the Turkish presidency said on Wednesday. The announcement was made in a joint statement with Iraq following a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi officials, according to the South China Morning Post. The statement said Turkish forces would gradually transfer the Bashiqa-Zilkan base to Iraq’s federal government.
The process will follow a mechanism and timetable agreed by the two countries. The planned handover was linked in the statement to progress made by Iraq on security measures. It did not, in the supplied material, specify the timetable, the number of Turkish personnel at the base or the date when control will be completed.
The announcement concerns the transfer of control of the installation; the available report does not provide further details about the base’s future use or the wider security arrangements surrounding it.
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