Barzani coming to Ankara

Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), will be arriving in Turkey on Sunday, the group’s Ankara representative Safeen Dizayee said on Thursday. It will be the first time in more than one and a half years that Barzani will be in Turkey, having postponed a number of visits in recent months.
The talks come after a cooling of relations between Ankara and the KDP, sparked by comments from Barzani calling on Turkey to end its activities in Northern Iraq and suggestions that the region might declare itself independent from Baghdad.
Dizayee described the visit as a continuation of the sound ties between Turkey and the KDP.
“There were some problems in relations between Turkey and KDP, but new government’s attitude is very good,” he said. “We want to carry on our relations in a constructive way. We want to hold good contacts and consultations with the new government.”
The KDP leader is to meet with officials of the Foreign Ministry on Monday and later hold talks with senior military officials and representatives of Northern Iraq’s Turkmen community.