Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq, Mr. Hoshyar Zebari paid a visit to Turkey on October 24-25, 2013 upon the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoğlu.

During the meeting between the delegations chaired by Foreign Ministers of the two countries, views were exchanged on bilateral relations as well as contemporary regional and international issues.

Speaking at the joint press conference held after the meeting, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu underlined that Turkey and Iraq are the two countries which have the strongest infrastructure, in the region and in the world, to establish strategic relations with each other. Recalling that the first High Level Strategic Partnership Council was founded with Iraq and 48 agreements were signed during the visit of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Iraq in 2009, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu said that a period of stagnation in bilateral relations was experienced, however, relations still continued in every field.

Emphasizing that there is a mutual strong will for furthering the bilateral relations Foreign Minister Davutoğlu said that he and his Iraqi counterpart discussed the new steps to be taken in the coming period, in this context, it was agreed to give a new momentum to the relations particularly, in the field of transportation, energy, economy, trade, agriculture and health.

Maintaining that the developments in Syria were also addressed, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu stated that Turkey and Iraq are the most affected neighboring countries by the situation in Syria, thus, it is decided that a consultation mechanism on Syria will be established between the Foreign Ministries of the two countries at the level of undersecretaries.

Pointing out that he will also pay a visit to Iraq in the first half of November, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu said that Turkey and Iraq are always brothers and this brotherhood will bring peace and stability to the region.