Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iraq Thursday to sign a raft of agreements aimed at boosting economic and political ties between the neighbors, state television reported.
He was received by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on his arrival in Baghdad, where he is due to hold talks with Iraqi leaders, the report said.
An aide to Erdogan told AFP ahead of the trip that "a considerable number of accords, mostly in the economic realm," would be signed during the visit. Iraqi media reports put the number at around 50.
The Turkish official said Erdogan would likely be accompanied by the interior, foreign affairs, foreign trade, energy, construction, health, transport, agriculture and environment ministers.
Erdogan and his ministers were to hold a joint meeting with Maliki and their respective counterparts.
In September, delegations from the two countries, led by their foreign ministers, held two-day talks in Istanbul to prepare the ground for Erdogan's visit and negotiate the accords to be signed.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at the time the objective was to "secure a genuine economic integration on the highest possible level" between the two neighbors, whose ties have often been troubled by separatist Kurdish rebels taking refuge in the mountains of northern Iraq.