Fidan: Iraqi PM Zaidi has a serious vision for advancing ties with Türkiye

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has a very serious vision for advancing relations with Türkiye. Fidan said they discussed the economy, energy, the Development Road and counterterrorism in Baghdad.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan briefed reporters in Baghdad on his contacts on the sidelines of the 52nd session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers. Of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, he said: “Mr. Zaidi truly has a very serious vision for advancing relations with Türkiye.”

Fidan said he and Zaidi discussed “economic issues, energy issues, especially the Development Road in terms of connectivity, as well as security and defense cooperation, the fight against terrorism, Sinjar and so on,” adding: “We had the opportunity to discuss all of these at length.”

“We see the positive effect of this vision in Iraq’s policies”

“We also see the positive and constructive effect of this vision in Iraq’s policies. Frankly, we saw that he has a very serious will to identify the problems in Iraq and take practical steps as a result,” Fidan said. Stressing that Türkiye always stands by such constructive policies, he said Türkiye-Iraq relations would be carried to “a horizon unseen in history” through such will.

Fidan said Türkiye would play every constructive role it can to heal the wounds and problems stemming from recent history that mostly affect Iraqi society. Expressing hope that other problems in the region would also be solved through dialogue and peace, he said: “The environment in which Iraq lives and breathes will ease, and the region will evolve into a more peaceful atmosphere.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi

According to the Iraqi prime minister’s media office, Fidan conveyed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s greetings and congratulated Zaidi on completing his cabinet and on Iraq taking over the OIC presidency. Zaidi stressed the importance of a comprehensive water agreement with Ankara and of moving ahead with the Development Road project, and urged Turkish companies to invest in Iraq. Both sides also emphasized setting up a joint security operations room. Turkish exports to Iraq exceeded $12.3 billion in 2025.

Meetings with the president, speaker and PMF

Fidan said he began his contacts in Baghdad with Iraqi President Nizar Amedi, conveying Erdoğan’s greetings in their first face-to-face meeting since Amedi took office. He also met Prime Minister Zaidi, his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein, Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Commission head Falih al-Fayyadh and Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi. Fidan said he discussed with Fayyadh the PMF’s situation and steps to disarm certain armed groups in Iraq, and that his next meeting would be with Iraq’s national security adviser.

“Turkmens are loyal citizens of Iraq”

Fidan said he held “a very special meeting” at the Turkish Embassy with a delegation of the Iraqi Turkmen Front and congratulated its leader, Mohammed Saman Agha, who became a minister of state after Iraq’s parliament approved his appointment on Oct. 15. “It was important that a minister came from the Front,” Fidan said, adding that he conveyed Erdoğan’s thanks to Prime Minister Zaidi and the parliament speaker for their efforts in the approval.

“The Turkmen community has always been a very constructive part of Iraq’s overall structure. They have never engaged in any destructive or divisive activity. They are loyal citizens of Iraq and very conscious of preserving their identity,” Fidan said. “Türkiye and Iraq are brothers. They are extensions of each other geographically, culturally and historically,” he said, stressing the need to turn this into a more institutional structural basis that works in everyone’s interest.

At the same meeting, Türkiye handed over the presidency of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, which it had held for a year and a half, to Iraq. Fidan said issues of concern to the Islamic world, led by the Palestinian question, were discussed “in a substantive way.”

Fidan: Iraqi PM Zaidi has a serious vision for advancing ties with Türkiye