Kurdish separatists and water issues loom large in long-awaited visit of Turkey’s Erdogan to Iraq

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and SUZAN FRASER
Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is making his first official visit to Iraq in more than a decade as Ankara seeks greater cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against a Kurdish militant group that has a foothold in Iraq’s north. Other issues also loom large between the two countries, including water supply and exports of oil and gas from northern Iraq to Turkey, halted for more than a year. Erdogan has said his country plans to launch a major operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK. The Kurdish separatist movement is banned in Turkey. Erdogan arrived in Iraq on Monday and met with Iraqi leaders.