Iraq Kurdish leader to meet with fugitive VP in Turkey

The KRG president is scheduled to arrive in Turkey on Thursday and intends to meet Turkish Prime Minister.

Hashemi, who is accused of running a terror squad in Iraq, flew to Turkey on April 10 after visiting Qatar and Saudi Arabia on the third leg of what he has called an “official visit’’ to regional countries.

He has recently met with Erdogan to discuss the developments in Iraq and asked for Ankara’s political support.

Hashemi has also asked for Ankara’s protection since he has received death threats and is said to be guarded by more than a dozen security forces.

The Turkish government has settled Hashemi, his family, and those accompanying him in two houses in Basak, Istanbul, while Jordan has not responded to the Iraqi official’s asylum appeal.

Analysts believe the trio share differences with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government over Baghdad’s insistence on the country’s territorial integrity, its foreign policies as well as Baghdad’s support for the Syrian government.

The semi-autonomous government of the Kurdistan region gave sanctuary to the fugitive Iraqi vice president in December.

Iraq officially demanded the Kurdish officials in January to hand over Hashemi to face charges in connection with “running a death squad and being the mastermind behind a November 2011 parliament blast.” The call, however, fell on deaf ears in Arbil.

In March, Barzani threatened to declare independence from the central government in Baghdad and insisted that the oil-rich Kirkuk had to be incorporated into a future independent Kurdistan.