Shafaq News/ The President of Iraq's Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, on Thursday paid an unannounced visit to Ankara and met with Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to a readout issued by the region's presidency, Barzani and Erdogan discussed "bilateral relations of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region with Turkey, the political developments in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region following the inauguration of the new cabinet."

The meeting, according to the readout, "highlighted the Erbil-Baghdad relations and the ongoing negotiations to resolve the pending issues between the two sides."

"Both sides stressed their mutual readiness to promote relations between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey in all areas, especially in trade and economic cooperation," the readout said.

Barzani and Erdogan attached importance to exploiting "the existing opportunities to expand the joint partnership of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region with Turkey in the field of energy."

The meeting touched upon the joint borders' security, ISIS threats in Iraq and Syria, the situation in the Middle East, and other issues of mutual interest.