The withdrawal from the base in Nineveh province, near Mosul, is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 or early 2027, according to Sabah al-Numan, spokesman for the Iraqi Armed Forces.
A joint Iraqi-Turkish security committee is overseeing the transfer, following an agreement between Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at their September 2026 UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
Baghdad and Ankara also issued a joint statement confirming Turkey’s commitment to relinquish the military installation in stages.
As part of the broader agreement, Iraq has undertaken to tighten government control over the nearby Sinjar region and strengthen security measures aimed at restricting the activities of armed groups, particularly the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
Turkish forces have occupied the Bashiqa-Zilkan installation since 2015, when Ankara established a military presence there to support operations against the Islamic State terrorist group.
The deployment subsequently became a longstanding source of tension between Iraq and Turkey, with Baghdad repeatedly objecting to the presence of foreign troops on its territory as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
US Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack welcomed the agreement, describing the transfer as a development that addresses the security interests of both countries.
“History rarely announces its turning points; it stitches them quietly,” Barrack wrote on X.
“Ankara returning Zilkan to Baghdad by agreed mechanism and timeline is one such thread: Iraqi sovereignty and Turkish security, both served. What looks like chaos from afar is a region weaving its own order.”
The handover will place the installation under Iraqi security authority once the withdrawal is completed, ending Turkey’s military presence at the base after more than a decade.
Source: Iwpost.com
