(Photo: Reuters)
Is Barzani part of Turkish spy network?
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani visited Turkey this week to hold talks with Turkish officials amid tensions between Turkey and Iraq over the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq.
Barzani arrived in Ankara on Wednesday afternoon for a two-day official visit. Although it wasn’t stated on the official schedule, the KRG leader paid his first visit to the National Intelligence Organization’s (MİT) headquarters, Turkish media reported. He is expected to meet with MİT Undersecretary Hakan Fidan.
KRG president’s visit to Turkey came amid the escalating tension between Ankara and Baghdad over the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraqi city of Mosul.
Turkey deployed about 150 troops, along with 25 tanks, to a camp in the Bashiqa region of northern Iraq on Thursday, calling it a routine rotation to train Iraqis to retake Mosul from ISIL, which captured Iraq’s second-largest city in 2014.
Ankara says its troops are in Iraq to train Iraqi forces against ISIL. The foreign ministry said Turkey had stopped the deployment two days ago due to the “sensitivities” of the Iraqi authorities but added that it will not withdraw those already there. The Iraqi government says it never invited such a force.
to give intelligence on killing his Kurdish brother in Turkey and Syria.