Turkey to reopen consulates in Mosul and Basra: Turkish FM

BAGHDAD

Turkey plans to reopen its consulates in Mosul and Basra cities of Iraq, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Oct. 11.

Turkey had to close down its consulate in Mosul after ISIL raided its building and seized the city, while it shuttered its Basra consulate over security reasons.

The minister made the statement during an official visit to Iraq where he met with the neighboring country’s new president, Bahram Salih, and Adil Adel Abdul Mahdi, Iraq’s prime minister-designate who is assigned to form a new government. Çavuşoğlu said he paid the visit in order to show Turkey’s support to Iraq.

In his meeting with Saleh, they discussed the reconstruction of Iraq, boosting bilateral economic relations, trade and investment, Çavuşoğlu said. “We have consensus on the issue of continuing a joint fight against terrorism,” he noted.

He also met with Ammar al-Hakim, head of the National Wisdom Movement, a political coalition founded earlier this year to contest Iraq’s May 12 legislative poll.

When asked about Turkey’s ongoing military operations against PKK elements in northern Iraq, the minister said Turkey will “continue to eliminate terrorists wherever they are under the framework of international law.”

“This struggle is not against Iraq’s territorial integrity, but our right derived from international law,” he said, noting that this fight will continue in cooperation with Baghdad after the new government is formed.