Erdogan, Barzani reportedly in consensus on containing PKK

President of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government Massoud Barzani concluded on Sunday his visit to Turkey during which he reached cooperation agreements with his Turkish hosts.

Barzani, who arrived in the predominantly Diyarbakir province and held talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was quoted by the local news agency, Ikhlas, as saying that he invited Erdogan to pay a visit to Irbil.

Ikhlas said the two sides agreed to resume pumping oil from northern Iraq to Turkey in some two months and preventing possible spillover of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to northern Syria.

Barzani pledged during the talks with Erdogan that he would not allow the PKK to establish “a de facto” mini state in the north of Syria.

However, Ikhlas indicated that while Erdogan was seeking to foil the purported PPK plans to expand their presence, he sought Barzani’s cooperation as part of a broad policy by Istanbul to reconcile with the Kurds, including the PKK.

Turkish Army had been involved in fighting with the PKK fighters for many years.

The rebels maintain bases in mountainuous and rugged regions along the northern borders of Iraq.