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Iraq to use soldiers to run crossing on Turkish border

October 7, 2017 at 3:45 pm

Turkish Armed Forces conduct a military drill near the Turkish-Iraqi border on 29 September 2017 [Fatih Aktaş/Anadolu Agency]

Iraq’s Ambassador in Ankara, Hesham Al-Alawi, said on Friday that his country will use the army to run Al-Khabour Border Crossing between Turkey and the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region, Alhurra.com has reported.

The current military exercises on the border, he told journalists, are in preparation for the potential use of soldiers at the crossing. Al-Alawi added that Ankara and Baghdad are discussing the opening of a border post directly between the two countries in order to develop cooperation and commerce.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said that his country hopes to open a new border crossing with Iraq after it had closed the current one in response to the Kurdish independence referendum. “We suggested the opening of a gate to the west of Al-Khabour Crossing,” he explained. Iraq, he added, is expected to cooperate in this regard.

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