Turkey has agreed to transfer control of its military base in Bashiqa, a town in northern Iraq northeast of Mosul, to the Iraqi federal government in Baghdad, according to a joint statement released by both countries. The announcement came following a meeting on Wednesday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The handover will take place gradually, in accordance with an agreed mechanism and timetable, though no specific dates were disclosed.
The Bashiqa base has been a source of friction between the two neighbours for over a decade. Turkey first established the facility in December 2015, with the agreement of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government — a semi-independent administration in northern Iraq — to train local forces fighting the Islamic State (ISIL/ISIS). The deployment of up to 600 Turkish soldiers drew sharp criticism from Baghdad, which considered the presence a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, even as Ankara maintained the base served a legitimate security function.
Wednesday's agreement also addressed the volatile Sinjar region of northern Iraq, long home to the Yazidi minority community and a focal point for Turkish military operations. Both governments pledged to "fully restore state authority in Sinjar and eliminate the presence of illegal foreign armed elements" — a reference to fighters affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a militant organisation that has operated in the mountainous border areas of northern Iraq. The path to this agreement was partly cleared by a landmark peace process between Ankara and the PKK, which led to the group's announced dissolution in May 2025 and a symbolic disarmament ceremony in July 2025. Baghdad separately announced in early September that Sinjar would come under full federal government authority following weapons handovers by Yazidi armed groups.
The accord was welcomed by Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria and Iraq, who described it as a quiet but historic turning point serving both Iraqi sovereignty and Turkish security interests. Beyond security, both sides agreed to expand bilateral trade and investment, accelerate joint strategic projects — including the ambitious Development Road infrastructure corridor — and immediately implement previously signed agreements.
The deal represents a significant step in Baghdad's broader effort to consolidate federal authority over contested northern territories while deepening economic and security ties with Ankara. For Turkey, the agreement offers a diplomatic framework to manage its security concerns along the Iraqi border following the PKK peace process, replacing a military footprint that had long strained relations with its southern neighbour.