Alalam - Iraq

It's the first such visit since the two governments quarrelled over the presence of unauthorised Turkish troops in northern Iraq, straining relations between the two neighbours fighting the ISIS .

Yildirim was received by Haider al-Abadi, at the Iraqi Prime Minister's office.

The presence of some 500 Turkish troops in the Bashiqa region, northeast of the IS-held city of Mosul, has stirred tension with Baghdad since late last year.

Turkey says the troops were invited by local Iraqi authorities and has ignored the calls.

According to Turkish officials, Yildirim's talks in Iraq will include the Bashiqa dispute, the fight against the IS group, and the Kurdish Turkish separatist group known as the PKK which has used Iraqi territory to launch attacks inside Turkey.Yildirim is also expected to visit Irbil, northern Iraq on Sunday.

SA