Shafaq News- Baghdad

Turkiye will begin taking steps toward gradually handing the Bashiqa-Zilkan camp in Nineveh to Iraq's federal government, and the two countries have agreed to activate a joint security coordination committee to oversee the process in Sinjar, the office of Iraqi Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ali Al-Zaidi said on Sunday.

In a meeting of the Iraqi-Turkish high-level committee on outstanding bilateral issues, held under the agreement the two countries' leaders reached on Sept. 23, both sides backed the steps Iraqi authorities have taken so far to extend full state control over Sinjar and end the presence of armed groups there.

Ankara said it would "take the necessary steps on its part toward the gradual handover" of the camp. The coordination committee, activated as previously agreed, will jointly verify and oversee the Sinjar process.

Prime Minister Al-Zaidi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in New York in September on the camp's gradual transfer and on restoring full Iraqi state authority in Sinjar. The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ) have since placed their weapons under state control.

Mohammed Al-Kakaei, head of the Nineveh Provincial Council's security committee, told Shafaq News that the Turkish troops and vehicles had partially left the Zilkan camp.