Turkish president meets PM of Iraq's Kurdish region

By Zafer Fatih Beyaz

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday received Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in the capital Ankara.

Erdogan hosted the visiting official at the presidential complex in a closed-door meeting for an hour.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) head Hakan Fidan were also in attendance at the meeting.

Earlier Thursday, following his meeting with Cavusoglu, Barzani said the KRG opposed the presence of the PKK terror group in Sinjar and other parts of Iraq.

PKK terrorists often use northern Iraq as a base to plan cross-border terror attacks in Turkey.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of PKK.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas