Turkish PM to address Iraqi parliament

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the Iraqi parliament on Monday to deliver an address, according to al-Iraqiya satellite channel. Erdogan had arrived today in Baghdad on a visit aimed at boosting political and economic ties between the two neighbours, state television said. The Turkish leader, who heads a large business delegation, is on a two-day visit to Iraq, his first since October 2009, television reported. Erdogan, who is also accompanied by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, will also travel to Iraq‘s northern autonomous Kurdish region, the first Turkish prime minister to do so. The fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has rear-bases in the border area, will also be discussed during Erdogan’s visit, according to sources in Ankara. The PKK, which is viewed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, took up arms against Ankara in 1984 for self-rule in Turkey’s Kurdish-populated southeast, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives. SH (TP) 501