Sabah: An increased Turkish military presence in northern Iraq

The Turkish daily Sabah said on Tuesday that a high ranking official representing the Turkish army chief of staff paid on Monday a sudden visit to the Turkish foreign ministry during which it called for accelerating the diplomatic attempts on closing al-Kahbour border Gate, as most of the current border trade revenues through this gate passes go to the Kurdistani Democratic party led by Masoud al- Barazani and the Kurdistani Federation party led by Jalal al-Talibani.

The paper indicated that the military delegation which included the deputy army chief Yashar Biokent and the chairman of the (transport) department Koksal Qarabai and the chairman of the planning department Rashad Toghout briefed the officials at the Turkish foreign ministry on latest developments relating to the increase of the Turkish military presence in Northern Iraq region.