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Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has “a very serious vision” for advancing relations with Türkiye, and that its “positive and constructive effect” can be seen in Iraqi policy, after a day of meetings in Baghdad on the sidelines of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s foreign ministers’ council.
Speaking to reporters after the 52nd session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, Fidan described a long but productive day. He said Türkiye handed the council’s chairmanship to Iraq on Saturday after holding it for a year and a half.
Fidan said the council examined a range of issues of close concern to the Islamic world, “primarily the Palestinian question,” and discussed them “in a qualified manner.” The OIC is a grouping of Muslim-majority states. He said the meetings and bilateral contacts in Baghdad were aimed at addressing the shared problems of the Islamic world.
Earlier in the day, Fidan met Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty before the council session began.
Fidan said he conveyed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s greetings to Iraqi President Nizar Amedi and congratulated him on his new post. It was their first face-to-face meeting since Amedi took office, Fidan said, describing him as a familiar statesman who had served alongside previous Iraqi presidents.
In his meeting with al-Zaidi, Fidan said, he saw a firm will to identify Iraq’s problems and take practical steps in response. He said Erdogan and Türkiye support such constructive policies, and that the two sides discussed taking bilateral relations to a level “never seen in history.”
Fidan said Türkiye would play every constructive role it can to help resolve problems rooted in Iraq’s recent history that have mostly affected Iraqi society. He said the talks with al-Zaidi covered energy, connectivity, the Development Road Project, security and defense cooperation, counterterrorism and the Sinjar region of northern Iraq.
“God willing, the other problems in the region will be resolved soon through dialogue and peace,” Fidan said, adding that this would ease conditions inside Iraq and move the region toward a more peaceful atmosphere.
Fidan also met Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein to discuss the general political situation and regional matters. He said he spoke with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi, to whom he also conveyed Erdogan’s greetings, about issues on the parliament’s agenda and Türkiye-Iraq relations.
A meeting with Iraqi National Security Adviser Kasim Abbudi was set to focus on the security dimension of bilateral ties and its regional implications, Fidan said.
Fidan said he met Falih al-Fayyadh, head of the Popular Mobilization Commission, known as Hashd al-Shaabi, with whom he has had a relationship since his years at Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
They reviewed the commission’s current situation, regional developments, steps taken toward disarming certain armed groups in Iraq, and where those efforts now stand, Fidan said. Türkiye-Iraq relations and the security perspective were also on the agenda.
Fidan also met Mehmet Seman Agaoglu, who heads the Iraqi Turkmen Front and now serves as a state minister, and congratulated him on the appointment. “It was important that a minister came from the Front,” Fidan said, adding that he had relayed Erdogan’s thanks to al-Zaidi and al-Halbousi.
Fidan said Türkiye has followed the situation of the Turkmen community for years. He said its problems cannot be separated from Iraq’s broader difficulties and “need to be managed by linking them together.”
Fidan described Turkmen as loyal Iraqi citizens who have always been a constructive part of the country’s overall fabric and never engaged in destructive or divisive activity. He said they are conscious of preserving their own identity, which is what Ankara wants.
He called Türkiye and Iraq “brothers,” saying the two countries are extensions of each other in geography, culture and history.
“We need to turn this, in modern times, into a more institutional, better functioning structural ground that works for everyone’s benefit,” Fidan said. “As responsible figures, this is the only thing we are actually trying to do.”
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