Joint Security Step from Turkey and Iraq for Sinjar and Bashiqa

The Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Iraq reaffirmed their joint will, within the framework of the agreement reached by the leaders of the two countries on September 23, regarding the establishment of state authority in Sinjar, the termination of the presence of PKK terrorist organization elements, and the gradual handover of the Bashiqa-Zilikan camp to the Iraqi Federal Government.

According to the joint press release announced via the Directorate of Communications' social media post, Turkey and Iraq continue to take concrete steps in line with the goals previously set by the leaders of the two countries. The statement emphasized the joint will to maintain the steps taken so far by Iraqi authorities in order to fully establish state authority in Sinjar and put an end to the presence of the PKK terrorist organization's elements.

The Turkish side announced that, within the scope of the agreement at the leaders' level, it will begin taking steps to fulfill its responsibilities regarding the gradual handover of the Bashiqa-Zilikan camp to the Iraqi Federal Government.

It was decided to operationalize the Joint Security Coordination Committee in order to jointly confirm and monitor the progress of the process aimed at completely ending the presence of the PKK terrorist organization in Sinjar. The parties agreed that this previously consensus-reached committee should officially start working.