PM Yıldırım postpones Iraq visit

BAGHDAD – Doğan News Agency

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s planned official visit to Baghdad has been postponed, Iraqi Foreign Ministry sources stated on Oct. 14.

The visit was postponed due to “heavy schedule” and he will visit Baghdad at a later date, they said.

Yıldırım was expected to travel to Baghdad over the weekend to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and other senior officials, according to reports.

He was expected to be accompanied by the foreign, energy and trade ministers along with other officials, discussing with Iraqi officials key issues including joint steps against the independence bid of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Al-Abadi invited Yıldırım to visit Baghdad in the wake of the Sept. 25 KRG referendum in northern Iraq.

The undersecretary of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Ümit Yalçın, paid a snap visit to meet his counterparts in Baghdad last week.

Turkey has told the KRG it could suspend its oil trade and close the Habur border gate. But diplomatic sources underlined the need to consult with the Iraqi government before implementing such measures. All potential actions need to be discussed through their conformity with constitutional and legal obligations, the sources said.