Turkey, Iraq's Kurdish gov't pledge cooperation in counter-terrorism

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and visiting Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government Nechirvan Barzani on Saturday pledged cooperation on counterterrorism.

Barzani met with Davutoglu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, amid lingering tension between Turkey and the Iraqi central government over recent deployment of Turkish troops to northern Iraq.

The fight against the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist organizations and security concerns in the region dominated the meetings.

The two sides agreed to boost cooperation on counterterrorism and highlighted the necessity of joint efforts, according to the prime ministry's website and local media reports.

Barzani praised Ankara's current "intensive" counterterrorism efforts, saying "We hope that Ankara's fight against terrorism, based on the reality of the field, will increasingly continue in the future."

Kurdish regional government has been backing Turkey's military deployment to the Bashiqa camp in northern Iraq, arguing the deployment was within the context of agreements.

Ankara sent hundreds of troops to Bashiqa early this month, saying the forces were part of an international mission to train and equip Iraqi forces to fight the IS.

Baghdad, however, slammed the move and has brought the issue to the UN Security Council in its efforts to push for a complete withdrawal.

Massoud Barzani, president of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government, visited Turkey in early December. Endit