Erdogan, Davutoglu due in Baghdad

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to visit the Iraqi capital Baghdad this fall, while Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuoglu will be visiting the country this week. Further improving bilateral ties and joint measures to eliminate the terrorist PKK from northern Iraq are expected to dominate Erdogan and Davutoglu's talks. A meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council between the two countries will also take place in Baghdad during Erdogan visit. In related news, Erdogan is expected to unveil the details of a government initiative focused on democratization and expanding cultural rights to solve the country's longstanding southeastern Anatolia or Kurdish issue as part of a fall visit to the region. Erdogan yesterday also received famous Turkish basketball player Hidayet Turkoglu in Istanbul. Turkoglu, also known as Hedo, is one of the three Turkish players in the NBA, and recently accepted an offer to join the Toronto Raptors, the NBA's sole Canadian team, which made him the world's highest-paid Turkish athlete. During the meeting, Turkoglu gave Erdogan specimens of his uniforms for the Turkish National Basketball Team as well as the Raptors.