According to the Iraqi daily Al-Mada, during his visit to Turkey, Sadrist leader Muqtada Al-Sadr met on May 1, 2009 with President Abdallah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the security situation in Iraq. According to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, on the following day he held a conference of Sadrist leaders in Istanbul, which likewise dealt with the Iraqi situation. A senior Sadrist official told Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that Al-Sadr is to finish his studies at Qom and earn a degree of jurisprudent next year, after which he will return to Iraq.

Source: Al-Mada (Iraq), May 1, 2009; Al-Sharq Al-Awsat  (London), May 3, 2009