PM Erdoğan to shuttle between Tehran, Washington

After receiving an invitation from U.S. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is planning to visit Washington on Oct. 29 following talks in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

“I received the invitation [from Obama] today,” Erdoğan told journalists on the plane after wrapping up his visit in Baghdad on Thursday. “We’ve been working on alternative dates. If we fix Oct. 29, we will proceed to the United States from Iran.”

Turkey has repeatedly expressed its readiness to contribute to any reconciliation process between Iran and the United States. Neither of the sides, however, has asked it to play such a mediation role.

Describing his Baghdad talks as “productive,” Erdoğan noted: “We had not signed a cooperation agreement with 48 articles before. We’ve inked contracts in various fields.”

Turkey is planning to open a consulate in Arbil and a delegation including ministers and businessmen will travel to northern Iraq to review cooperation possibilities.

Erdoğan said he hoped to speed up cooperation to combat terrorism and explained the newly inked security agreement, which he said “requires displaying a joint struggle against terrorism in respect to the territorial integrity of both countries in line with international law.”

In response to questions about cross-border operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, Erdoğan signaled that Turkey will continue with such actions if necessary. “The cross-border operations are our right, in line with international law,” he said. “If necessary, we will use this right as we’ve done to date.”

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions against three leading members of the PKK and accused them of trafficking narcotics. Murat Karayılan, Ali Rıza Altun and Zubayır Aydar are accused of smuggling drugs to help fund the PKK, which has already been listed by the U.S. government for terrorism and trafficking activities.

“It is important that the U.S. takes a stand on the recent developments,” Erdoğan said. “In the past, they did not listen to us when we asserted that they were human traffickers and narcotic smugglers, not just terrorists. They now admitted that the source was stemming from there.”

The prime minister also expressed his satisfaction with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s comments about Mahmur Camp, where a number of PKK members are believed to live. Avoiding details, he called on the camp’s inhabitants to take advantage of the so-called “return home” law. “Most of them have not been involved in terror attacks,” Erdoğan said. “The organization is trying to convince them to join the militants.”