A Return to Normal for Turkey and Iraq
Geopolitical Diary
January 6, 2017 | 01:22 GMT Text Size
After a period of heightened tensions, Turkey and Iraq have a chance to smooth things over. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim will visit Iraq this weekend to meet with his counterparts in Baghdad and in Arbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government. During Yildirim's visit, all parties involved are expected to paper over their differences by playing up the areas where they agree. The Iraqi Parliament's Committee on Iraqi-Turkish Friendship has hailed the trip as an opportunity for relations between the two countries to "return to normal." But for Iraq and Turkey, "normal" is a pragmatic cooperation punctuated by episodes of strife between decidedly fair-weather friends.
More:A Return to Normal for Turkey and Iraq | Stratfor