Iraqi president visits Turkey to discuss IS challenge

As Iraqi President Fuad Masum kicks off his visit to Turkey on Tuesday, the security threats posed by the Islamic State (IS) militants are expected to be one of the key topics between the two nations' leaders.

Masum is accompanied with senior Iraqi officials who have expertise in military and security matters, including Fallah Fayaz, national security adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, as well as Interior ministry officials and military advisers.

"The visit comes at a critical time when the U.S.-led coalition is preparing to crack down on IS holdouts in Iraq and Syria," Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, professor of international relations, told Xinhua.

He said both Turkey and Iraq have been confronted with this common enemy, and they understood that it requires a joint effort to beat back the IS.

Turkey has been helping both Iraqi central government and Kurdistan regional authorities in fighting the IS in terms of providing logistical and arms support. In March, Turkey had delivered to Baghdad two C-130 cargo planes loaded with arms and ammunition.

It has also been training Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish fighters known as the peshmerga.

On Wednesday, Masum is scheduled to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in the Turkish capital Ankara.

In a written statement, Erdogan's office said the meetings will offer a chance for the two countries to settle all kinds of problems in their joint counter-terrorism efforts.

On Friday, a suicide car bomb went off near the U.S. consulate in the city of Arbil, capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. The blast killed two Turkish nationals.

Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the bombing, calling it a "heinous terrorist attack" that was aimed at peace and stability of Iraq.

Earlier, Iraqi security forces have taken back the city of Tikrit from the hands of IS militants, and are busy preparing for an offensive later this month or next to recapture Mosul, which has been seized by IS fighters since June last year.

Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said recently that his country is on the side of Iraq in an operation targeting Mosul, adding that it is ready to provide every kind of intelligence and logistical support to Iraq in its fight against terrorism.

However, Ankara worried that once the IS is pushed back, the Shiite militias may exploit the power vacuum to take revenge against Sunni populations.

Turkish Prime Minister Davutoglu has already expressed such concerns to his Iraqi counterpart, Haider al-Abadi, in a telephone conversation late March. Enditem