Kurdish–Turkish conflict

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi paid a one-day official visit to Ankara on Dec.17 to discuss with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan economy and security matters, including combatting the PKK and ISIL, the re-construction of Iraq, trade and energy.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday US sanctions imposed on Turkey over its acquisition of Russian defense systems will fail in what he said was their aim of deterring Ankara's defence industry efforts.

Turkey has said it will lend necessary support to Iraq in its efforts to clear the country from the PKK ahead of a key visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi to Ankara where improving cooperation in the fields of economy and security will be the main course of talks.

President Tayyip Erdogan told European Council President Charles Michel in a call that Turkey wants to build its future with the EU, calling for Ankara and the bloc to move on from a "vicious cycle" in ties, the Turkish presidency said late on Tuesday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will pay a one-day official visit to Ankara to discuss economy and security matters with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the central government in Baghdad and the regional government in Arbil have launched a joint effort to wipe out the PKK and other terror groups from the Sinjar region of Iraq.

Turkey on Monday condemned US sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defences as a "grave mistake" and threatened to retaliate over a move it said would harm ties between the NATO allies.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers had exchanged a war of words over security policies of the government that escalated tension at the budget talks of the parliament on Dec. 13.

During the budget negotiations, HDP MPs criticized the appointment of trustees to the municipalities where their party's candidates won at the elections.

EU leaders plan to discuss arm exports to Turkey with NATO allies and Washington, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today, after Greece's push at the December 10-11 EU summit for an arms embargo on Ankara was dismissed.

Athens welcomed a decision by European Union leaders to prepare limited sanctions on Turkish individuals over its provocations in recent months as "a strong warning to Turkey to change its behavior."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the coronavirus pandemic are Greece's twin headaches, linked by their consequences on the economy, which are certainly greater from the latter, though the former's impact is not negligible either, given Turkey's constant provocations.