Iraqi source: Agreement near with Ankara to restore control of Kurdistan to Baghdad

Iraqi diplomatic sources in Amman have talked about a nearby agreement between Iraq and Turkey and the Kurdistani Democratic Party led by Mesoud Barzani to restore control of northern Iraq (Kurdistan) to Iraq's central government.

The sources added that basic points of concern toward this issue were discussed by Iraqi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Barzani when he passed through a border point between Iraq and Turkey that is controlled by Barzani's forces.

The Iraqi diplomatic sources added that Aziz asserted to the Turkish side the renewal of the security agreement preventing the movement of enemy forces between the two countries, asserting that the restoration of the central government's control over Iraq's Kurdish region will end the dangers posed by the Turkish Kurdistani Workers Party (PKK), which had launched a campaign that annoyed Turkey for a long time.

In 1985, Iraq signed with Turkey an agreement that provides for permitting Turkish troops to penetrate into the Iraqi territories for an incursion of five km in chasing the Kurdish opposition, under the condition that Turkey will permit Iraqi troops the same incursion into its territories.