Shkoi Kurdistan-
Two days after meeting France’s Emanuel Macron in Baghdad, Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Region, will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, according to the Turkish presidency.
Barzani will meet Erdogan in Ankara at 2:00 pm, according to the Turkish presidency’s published schedule.
He began his visit to Ankara with a breakfast meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Two days ago Barzani, accompanied by a team of political parties, met with Emanuel Macron, the president of France in Baghdad, but in his visit to Turkey will not by joined by any other parties’ representative.
Turkey is an trade partner for the Kurdistan Region and Erbil enjoys good. This summer, however, there is a lot of public anger among Kurds because of Turkey’s military incursion against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) within Kurdistan Region borders.
Turkey has pursued the PKK in the Kurdistan Region for decades, but its campaign this summer is pushing into populated areas, just kilometres away from major urban centres. At least eight civilians have been killed in Turkish airstrikes and tens of villages have been emptied.
Baghdad and Erbil have both condemned Turkey’s violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and have also called on the PKK to cease its activities.
The PKK is an armed Kurdish group that has fought for political and cultural rights in Turkey for decades.
