Turkey, Iraq sign military cooperation pact

The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) announced yesterday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding for military cooperation with Iraq. The announcement of the pact came on the day Iraq's vacationing vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, was having talks with senior Turkish officials in Ankara. The TSK, in a statement posted on its webpage, said, "As the result of more than a year of efforts between Turkey and Iraq, a Memorandum of Understanding for Training, Technical and Scientific Cooperation in the Military was signed on June 9, 2009 by Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Hasan Igsiz and Iraqi Joint Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Nasier A. Abadi at a ceremony held at General Staff headquarters." In related news, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Iraq later this month. During his visit, Davutoglu is expected also to hold talks in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, a key center for the northern Iraqi Kurdish regional administration.