Turkey, Iraq to allegedly open new border crossing

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish and Iraqi officials announced plans to open a new border crossing between the two countries, local media reported on Tuesday, August 7, Sputnik International says.

The issue was discussed during the recent meeting between the head of the Iraqi committee for border crossings, Qazim Akabi, and Turkish Ambassador to Iraq Fatih Yildiz, the Anadolu news agency reported.

The parties also reportedly agreed to send technical experts to the border region in September in order to conduct a study of the issue.

Both countries hope that the new crossing would stimulate the cross-border trade between Turkey and Turkmen communities of northern Iraq.

Turkmens are the second biggest ethnic minority in Iraq after Kurds. They are descendants of the Seljuks, who included Iraq in their empire in 11th —12th centuries, the Oghuz Turks, who established the Kara Koyunlu and Ag Koyunlu tribal federations in 14th —15th centuries and Turks that migrated to Iraq during Ottoman rule.