Turkey has agreed to gradually withdraw its military forces from the Bashiqa-Zelikan base in northern Iraq and hand over control to the Iraqi government. This decision was made following a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. According to a joint statement, Turkish forces will transfer control of the base to Iraq in accordance with a planned timeline. In return, Iraq has committed to removing armed groups that Turkey views as security threats from the Sinjar region in northwestern Iraq. The two nations also pledged to extend the authority of the Iraqi state in Sinjar and eliminate the presence of foreign armed groups that are banned in the country. The Bashiqa-Zelikan base has been a source of tension between Turkey and Iraq for years. Turkey initially established the base in 2015 to support operations against the Islamic State group and secure the region. While Turkey has maintained several military bases in northern Iraq to combat the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Bashiqa base is its furthest from the Turkish border. Despite previous discussions about withdrawing, Turkey had not fully removed its forces from the area. The base has been a symbol of the complex relationship between the two countries, with Turkey often pressuring Iraq to limit the activities of groups linked to the PKK in the Sinjar region. Earlier this month, the Iraqi government announced that the Sinjar Resistance Units, a Yazidi militia linked to the PKK, had agreed to disarm. Fighters from the group who meet certain criteria will be integrated into the Iraqi security forces. The Sinjar Resistance Units played a key role in the fight against the Islamic State but were viewed as a security threat by Turkey due to their ties to the PKK. This agreement comes at a time when the United States is concluding its military presence in Iraq, with officials stating that most U.S. troops in northern Iraq will leave by September 30. Meanwhile, Turkey is also involved in peace talks with the PKK aimed at ending a long-running conflict. The PKK, which has carried out attacks on Turkish soil from bases in northern Iraq, has agreed to disband and lay down its arms as part of these peace efforts.