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