BAGHDAD, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and his visiting Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, on Thursday discussed ways to deepen bilateral ties and the issue of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in Iraq.
The two sides agreed to prepare a memorandum of understanding on establishing a strategic framework to facilitate coordinated work by authorities of the two countries, said a statement issued after their meeting by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
The two sides also decided to form joint committees on combating terrorism, trade, agriculture, energy, water, health, and transportation, said the statement.
They also discussed the preparations for the upcoming visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad after the holy month of Ramadan that will end in April, according to the statement.
It said that the meeting came as a continuation of the discussions held between the two countries in Ankara last December.
Both sides also agreed that the PKK represents a security threat to both Türkiye and Iraq, stressing that its presence on Iraqi territory violates the Iraqi constitution, said the statement.
Meanwhile, Türkiye welcomed Iraq's decision to consider the PKK a banned organization in Iraq. The two sides mulled the measures to be taken against the PKK and its use of Iraqi territory to carry out attacks on Türkiye. ■
