Turkish contractor wins deal to rebuild historic Iraqi city

A Turkish company has won a contract to restore an historic Iraqi city as part of the country’s post-conflict reconstruction drive.

Iraq’s cabinet endorsed Gocay Insaat for the project to restore Samarra in the central Saladin governorate during a meeting headed by caretaker prime minister Mohammed Al-Sudani on Tuesday.

A statement published on the cabinet’s website said the Turkish company has been granted an additional extension to enable it to issue the required bank guarantee for the project.

“The cabinet approved the extension to allow the company to complete the procedures for obtaining the guarantee from the relevant banks and to meet contractual requirements related to the project,” it said.

The statement did not mention project costs but the official Iraqi news agency said after Al-Sudani broke ground for the project in late 2025 that costs would be around ID1 trillion ($800 million) and would be included in the next state budget.

Samarra was built in 836AD by Caliph Al-Mu’tasim as an Abbasid capital. It is located nearly 125km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad and is famous for the ninth-century Great Mosque and its iconic 52-metre spiral minaret.

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Iraq, Opec’s second largest oil producer, has launched a large-scale programme to rebuild its conflict-damaged infrastructure and restore ancient sites.

Key projects include the restoration of Ur, a tourism destination dedicated to one of Mesopotamia’s oldest civilisations, the Sumerians.

Located in the south of the country, it features an international museum with more than 3,000 artifacts, along with comprehensive cultural and service facilities.