Turkey’s Bashiqa base handover marks a new chapter for post-ISIS Iraq – analysis

Iraq and Turkey have agreed to a framework for Turkish forces to gradually hand over the Bashiqa-Zeliqan military camp to the Iraqi Federal Government. This agreement, reached during a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in New York on September 23, 2026, signifies Iraq's efforts to consolidate federal control post-ISIS. The handover is part of broader security developments, including Iraq's aim to rein in Iranian-backed militias by June 2027, the disarmament of the Yazidi YBS armed group, and the unification of Kurdish Peshmerga forces. The Bashiqa base, established in 2015, had supported Peshmerga and Sunni Arab forces against ISIS, and its transfer is linked to Turkey's desire to see PKK-linked groups disarmed. According to Iraq's Prime Minister's Office, "the Turkish forces will gradually hand over the Baashiqa - Zeliqan camp to the Iraqi Federal Government, in accordance with the agreed mechanism and timetable."