Turkey And Iraq Strike Deal
al-Maliki greets Erdogan in Baghdad
Excerpts from Today’s Zaman article (for full article, click here):
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday became the first senior Turkish leader to visit neighboring Iraq since the US-led war in 2003, pledging to deepen cooperation with the country in all areas after years of tension…
“This is a visit that came late. We are sorry for this,” Erdogan said at a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri al-Maliki, in Baghdad. “We are neighbors, but more than that, we are brothers.”… Relations between Turkey and Iraq have long been strained by the presence of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists in Iraqi territory…. Things began to improve last year, following a visit by al-Maliki, who pledged to support Turkey in its efforts to fight terrorism. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani visited Ankara in March, taking the dialogue a step further.
Erdogan and al-Maliki signed a document committing the two countries to maintaining high-level strategic dialogue in the areas of trade, energy and security. Accordingly, ministers for security, energy, trade, investment and water resources will meet three times a year and the prime ministers will also meet at least once a year to review the progress in issues under discussion. The document did not mention the PKK, but called for stronger cooperation on border security.
[Erdogan] also met Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, later during his visit, but notably absent in his schedule was a trip to Iraq’s Kurdish-run north or a meeting with Kurdish officials. Despite a recent rapprochement, relations between Turkey and the Kurds are still plagued by suspicions over the Kurds’ stance towards the PKK… Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani recently told an Italian newspaper that the PKK was not a terrorist organization…
Erdogan, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, who is also head of a state anti-terror committee, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Foreign Trade Minister Kürsad Tüzmen and Energy Minister Hilmi Güler, also discussed energy and trade in his talks with Iraqi officials.
Turkish firms and products dominate northern Iraq’s economy, and the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) is in oil exploration talks. Exports of oil from Iraq’s northern Kirkuk fields flow through a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean. Plans are being drawn up for a natural gas link.
During Talabani’s visit to Ankara, Turkey’s trade minister said bilateral trade between the two countries was targeted to reach $20 billion within two years, compared to some $3.5 billion in 2007 and $940 million in 2003. In addition, contracts signed by Turkish construction firms in Iraq in 2007 topped $4 billion…
Violence continues in Iraq, but Erdogan’s visit reflected a security situation that has improved more rapidly than many expected, partly because of the US troop surge in 2007 and new alliances between Sunni leaders and American forces… Kuwait said on Thursday it planned to soon appoint an ambassador to Iraq because security had improved enough to allow the reopening of their embassy. That follows a flurry of diplomatic activity from other Gulf states. Jordan’s King Abdullah is also expected to visit Baghdad soon.
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment