Ankara - Turkey plans to expand business ties with the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday.

Two major Turkish banks will soon open branches in the autonomous region and state-run Turkish Airlines will add the regional capital of Erbil to its list of destinations, he told a news conference. Davutoglu made the announcement after talks in Ankara with Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq.

Analysts said the move would increase business and investment opportunities for Turkish firms in the region as well as isolating the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). Barzani said his meeting with the foreign minister had opened up a new era of friendship between Erbil and Ankara, the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported.

"Turkey is our bridge to the West and we are Turkey's bridge to the Gulf states," he added.
It was Barzani's first visit to Turkey since he was elected president of the Kurdish region in 2005.

A number of Turkish construction firms are currently doing business in northern Iraq. Foreign companies generally restrict their activities to the three Kurdish provinces of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk, because the security situation there is better than in other parts of Iraq.