Turkey to hand over Bashiqa military base to Baghdad
Turkey announced it will gradually transfer control of its military base in Bashiqa, northern Iraq, to the Iraqi federal government. The agreement came after a meeting between Erdogan and Iraqi PM al-Zaidi at the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Turkish presidency said in a joint statement with Iraq on Wednesday that Turkish forces will gradually hand over the Bashiqa-Zilkan base to Iraq's federal government, following an agreed mechanism and timetable. The statement cited progress made through security measures implemented by Iraq as the basis for the decision. No specific date for the transfer was disclosed.
The announcement came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.
US Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack, praised the deal, describing it on social media platform X as a quiet but significant turning point that serves both Iraqi sovereignty and Turkish security interests.
Background on the base
Turkey set up the Bashiqa base in December 2015 with the consent of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, reportedly deploying as many as 600 soldiers there according to Turkish media. The base's establishment strained relations with Baghdad, which accused Ankara of violating Iraqi sovereignty.
On Wednesday, Ankara and Baghdad also agreed to fully restore state authority in the Sinjar region and remove illegal foreign armed groups from the area. Turkey has previously carried out military operations in Sinjar targeting fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). As part of a peace process with Ankara, the PKK announced its dissolution in May 2025 and held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq in July 2025, though Turkish authorities say some fighters remain in the area.
Earlier in September, Baghdad announced that Sinjar would come under full federal government authority after reaching an agreement with Yazidi armed groups for them to surrender their weapons to the state.
