Turkey agreed Wednesday to gradually hand over control of the Bashiqa-Zelikan military base near Mosul to the Iraqi government as Ankara and Baghdad move to eliminate the presence of “outlawed armed elements” in Iraq.
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The agreement followed a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the two leaders said in a joint statement.
Under the deal, Turkish forces will transfer the northern Iraq installation to Baghdad “in accordance with the agreed-upon mechanism and timeline” and security measures being implemented by the Iraqi government.
Turkey established the Bashiqa base in December 2015 with the agreement of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. Turkish media reported that Ankara deployed as many as 600 soldiers there, prompting tensions with Baghdad, which accused Turkey of violating Iraqi sovereignty.
Ankara and Baghdad also agreed Wednesday to “fully restore state authority in Sinjar and eliminate the presence of illegal foreign armed elements.”
Turkish forces have previously carried out military operations in the Sinjar region targeting fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Turkey seeking to disarm PKK, remove armed elements from Iraq
The agreement comes as Turkey works to remove armed elements from Iraq and seeks the disarmament of remaining PKK members following decades of conflict. The PKK announced its dissolution in May 2025 as part of a peace process with Ankara.
A highly symbolic disarmament ceremony followed in northern Iraq in July 2025. Turkish authorities have said only some PKK fighters remain in the country.
Baghdad, meanwhile, announced in early September that Sinjar would be brought fully under the authority of Iraq’s federal government and its security and administrative institutions.
That move followed an agreement with Yazidi armed groups under which they would surrender their weapons to the Iraqi state.