[Turkey will hand over a military base in northern Iraq to Iraq] November 9th, Turkey and Iraq issued a joint statement on the 8th saying that Turkey will hand over the Zelikan base in Bashiga in northern Iraq to the Iraqi government in stages. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Zaidi and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan met on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23 this year, and subsequently reached an agreement to hand over the base. The statement said that Turkey will proceed with the gradual transfer of this military facility to the Iraqi government in accordance with the previous agreement reached by the leaders of the two countries. The two sides will launch a joint security coordination committee to oversee the transfer process. (Xinhua News Agency)