Regional affairs topic of discussion as Turkey's foreign minister arrives in Baghdad for official visit

Mevlut Cavusoglu will meet several officials, an Iraqi foreign ministry source said, including Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, President Fuad Masum, Parliament Speaker Salim Jubouri, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jaafari.

The Turkish minister will discuss the "issue" of the presence of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and the Kurdish independence referendum, due to take place on September 25.

Cavusoglu will also talk about the fate of Iraqi Turkmen during and after the battle of Tal Afar as well as the future of Turkish forces in Bashiqa in the Nineveh province.

His visit to Iraq comes a day after US Defence Secretary James Mattis' visit to the country.

"The US and Turkish visits to Iraq are aimed at confirming the rejection of the Kurdistan referendum and the need to restore stability to the cities liberated from the control of Islamic State (IS)," Hassan Turan, deputy head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front told The New Arab on Tuesday.

"The effects of the turbulence in Iraq is clear and must be handled sensitively by foreign official, along with the rejection of the separation of Kurdistan from Iraq," said Tauran.

"Everyone is convinced that the issue is serious and will confuse the political and security scene in Iraq as well," he added.