Turkey's president in meetings in Iraq

BAGHDAD, March 23 (UPI) -- Turkish President Abdullah Gul traveled Monday to Iraq to meet with senior Iraqi officials and discuss bilateral issues, Turkish officials said.

Gul's visit comes after Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's announcement that he expects Kurdish rebels to cease fighting and called on Turkish officials to consider pardoning the Kurdistan Workers Party, al-Sumaria reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last year that Iraq supports Turkey in its fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party militants along the Turkish-Iraqi border. U.S. and Iraqi military units are cooperating with their Turkish counterparts to combat the group, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and several other nations, including Turkey.