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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Iraq on Nov. 2, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said Saturday. Fidan last visited Baghdad on Jan. 26, 2025.
Most recently, Fidan hosted Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and Minister of Water Resources Aoun Diab Abdullah in Ankara on Oct. 10, 2025.
During the visit, which comes three weeks after Hussein’s talks in Ankara, bilateral relations and current regional developments will be discussed. Fidan is scheduled to hold meetings with senior Iraqi officials.
According to diplomatic sources, Fidan is expected to express satisfaction with the rapidly developing bilateral relations in nearly all fields in recent years and the intensification of high-level contacts. He will also state that Türkiye supports steps aimed at reinforcing stability, security and prosperity in Iraq.
Fidan is expected to convey his wishes for the elections for the Iraqi Council of Representatives, scheduled for Nov. 11, 2025, to take place peacefully and in the most auspicious manner for the Iraqi people.
He will emphasize the Development Road Project, describing Türkiye as a natural partner, and note that Ankara welcomes with appreciation the support extended by Iraqi authorities to the “Terror-Free Türkiye Process.”
On water cooperation, Fidan is expected to say that Türkiye approaches the issue from a humanitarian perspective and, as both an upstream and downstream country, sees transboundary waters as an area of cooperation with neighbors.
He will reiterate Türkiye’s readiness to support technical and scientific cooperation on water and to contribute to infrastructure projects ensuring sustainable water use in Iraq.
He will also underline that efficient use of water resources is a shared responsibility of all basin countries and that transboundary waters should be used effectively and rationally among riparian states.
Fidan is expected to note that the resumption of operations of the Iraq–Türkiye Crude Oil Pipeline last September was a positive development in terms of energy supply security and bilateral trade relations, and reiterate that Türkiye is ready to sign a new and comprehensive agreement with Iraq to realize cooperation potential in the energy field.
Regarding regional issues, Fidan is expected to state that full adherence to the cease-fire in Gaza is essential for stabilizing the fragile security environment in the region, express the desire to continue joint efforts to strengthen Syria’s unity and territorial integrity, and note that Iraq’s efforts to repatriate its citizens from camps and prisons in northeastern Syria make an important contribution to Syria’s security.
Iraq remained one of Türkiye’s most important trade partners in 2025. As of September, bilateral trade reached approximately $12 billion, with Türkiye’s exports totaling $8.675 billion and imports $3.231 billion.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Iraq on April 22, 2024, marked a turning point in bilateral relations. During the visit, 27 agreements and memorandums of understanding covering security, trade, transboundary waters, agriculture, culture and transportation were signed, strengthening the contractual basis of bilateral cooperation.
Under the “Strategic Framework Agreement for Joint Cooperation,” significant progress was achieved toward institutionalizing relations and partnership between the two countries through Joint Permanent Committees established under the agreement. Following Erdogan’s visit, high-level political and technical contacts continued intensively.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani paid an official visit to Türkiye on May 8, 2025. During the visit, the sixth meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council was held and 11 documents were signed.
Meanwhile, Türkiye and Iraq also strengthened their economic partnership by signing the second-term protocol of the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO), aiming to increase bilateral trade to $20 billion in the short term and $30 billion in the medium term, Trade Minister Omer Bolat said Thursday during his visit to Baghdad.
During the visit, Bolat attended the opening of the Baghdad Turkish Export Products Fair, organized by the Mediterranean Exporters’ Associations (AKIB) under the coordination of Turkish Trade Ministry.
Bolat led a delegation of more than 100 Turkish business representatives from 19 different sectors to Baghdad, where they held intensive meetings with Iraqi officials and companies.
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