A high-level Iraqi delegation arrived here on Thursday to discuss ways with Turkish officials to defuse the current border tension posed by the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), Turkey's semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
The delegation is led by Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qadir al- Ubaidi and Security Minister Shirwan al-Waili, Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) representative Safeen Dizayee and Ministry of Interior Affairs Under secretary Aydin Khalit, Anatolia said.
They are expected to meet executives of Turkey's Foreign Ministry and General Staff, it added.
Turkey attaches great importance to this visit, seeing it as " the last chance" for Iraq, Anatolia said, quoting foreign ministry sources.
The visit came as Turkey continues a military buildup along the Iraqi border ahead of a possible incursion into northern Iraq to crush the PKK camps there, envisaged by a government motion approved by the Turkish parliament on Oct. 17.
While the Turkish warplanes kept attacking PKK targets into the Iraqi territory, Ankara was still holding back from any major ground offensive for now, leaving a door open for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Turkish security officials said Thursday that government troops have repulsed an attack by PKK militants near the Iraqi border.
Source: Xinhua
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