Border between Iraq and Turkey
The border between Turkey and Iraq is 367 kilometers long. In particular, the Iraqi Autonomous Region of Kurdistan borders Turkey here . The border area is very mountainous and rises in an easterly direction from 400 meters to over 3000 meters.
The only border crossing is the Ibrahim Khalil crossing in the flatter western part of the border. Not far from there is the triangle of Turkey, Iraq and Syria at the confluence of the Chabur and Tigris rivers .
The border was determined in 1926 when the League of Nations decided on the so-called Mosul question . Great Britain had been awarded the former Ottoman territory of Iraq as a mandate after the First World War. However, a long-standing dispute between Great Britain and Turkey had broken out over the affiliation of the Vilayets Mosul . This was decided in 1926 in favor of Great Britain.
In recent years, Turkish companies have invested heavily in the Kurdish northern Iraq, which has greatly increased freight and passenger traffic at the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing. Therefore, there were considerations to set up a second border crossing. Until today it has not been realized due to the political situation. The Turkish-Iraqi border area is used by the PKK as a retreat and also as a passage in Turkey, which resulted in several Turkish military interventions in northern Iraq.
Residents (administrative units)
from east to west
Turkey
Iraq
Individual evidence
- ↑ CIA World Factbook: Middle East - Turkey (English)
