Turkey to hand over military base to Iraq

Turkey to hand over military base to Iraq Turkey will hand over control of its Bashiqa base in northern Iraq to Baghdad, the Turkish presidency announced Wednesday in a joint statement with its neighbour. "In light of progress achieved by these security measures implemented by Iraq, Turkish forces will gradually hand over the Bashiqa-Zilkan base to the Federal Government of Iraq in accordance with the agreed mechanism and timetable," a joint statement said. The announcement followed a meeting Wednesday between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Reporting by AFP