FM says Baghdad to host Syrian-Turkish talks soon, denies Hamas move to Iraq

Shafaq News/ Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Thursday said that his country will be hosting a meeting between Syrian and Turkish officials after years of disengagement between the neighboring countries. 

The meeting is slated to take place in the capital, Baghdad, in the coming days, he told Alhurra from Washington.

Hussein said that Iraq is "taking the initiative to mediate between Ankara and Damascus" and that communication between the two sides is ongoing. He added that he met with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Washington on Wednesday to arrange the meeting.

The Iraqi foreign minister also said that there is "ongoing communication" between Iraq and Syria and that a date for the meeting will be set soon.

Hussein stressed that the decision to mediate the talks was "Iraqi" and that Iraq "does not take its cue from others in its domestic or foreign policies, but consults with its friends and allies on the steps it takes, especially those related to the security and stability of the region."

He noted that the success of the mediation "will have a positive impact on Iraq if the two sides reach important results and resolve the problems through peaceful means and negotiations, not through military solutions."

The Syrian civil war began in 2011 as a popular uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The conflict has since evolved into a complex war involving multiple factions, including the Syrian government, rebel, Kurdish, and jihadist groups.

Turkiye has been involved in the Syrian conflict since 2014, when it launched a military operation against Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Turkiye has also supported rebel groups fighting against the Assad government.

Iraq has close ties to both Syria and Turkiye. It shares a border with both countries and has a large Kurdish population. Iraq has also been affected by the Syrian conflict, with hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing to Iraq.

Hussein denied that there was any "green light from the Iraqi side for the Turks" ahead of the recent Turkish military movements in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. He stated that "the Turkish army has been present inside Iraqi territory since 1991 in some areas of Dohuk Governorate."

The deputy prime minister said that the presence of Turkish forces in the country will be a "point for discussion" during meetings to be held with Turkish officials soon.

"We haven't reached an agreement on the security file yet," Hussein stated. "The Turks link their troop presence in Iraqi territory to the presence of the PKK."

"The PKK problem is a Turkish problem and has now become an Iraqi problem as well, so it must be dealt with in the Iraqi way," Hussein added.

"We advocate resolving problems peacefully," Hussein said. "We reached agreements with Iran regarding armed opposition groups. A similar approach could be applied with Turkiye on the PKK."

Turkiye has a long history of cross-border operations in northern Iraq targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and the EU, has led an insurgency for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkey for decades. These operations have strained Baghdad-Ankara relations, with Iraq opposing foreign military presence on its soil.

Hussein denied media reports suggesting that Hamas leaders are planning to leave Qatar for Iraq, amid increasing pressure from Doha and the United States on the movement to show greater flexibility in ceasefire talks in Gaza.

"There is no official decision for Hamas to move to Iraq," Hussein said. "I have not been informed of such a decision."

On his visit to the United States, Hussein said it came at the invitation of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to participate in the NATO summit in Washington.

He added that the visit will include meetings with several US and NATO officials.

He also noted that his agenda includes talks with officials in the Treasury Department to "discuss the problems with the Iraqi Central Bank and Finance Ministry."

"Cooperation between Iraq and NATO exists and has recently increased to include the Ministry of Interior, where the alliance is training the federal police forces," the Iraqi minister said.

The 26-country military alliance did not participate militarily in the 2003 U.S.-led war in Iraq, which countries including France and Germany opposed.