The Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad, Anil Bora Inan, affirmed his country’s support for Iraq’s efforts to promote development and stability, pointing to the development of dialogue channels between the two countries in this context during the recent period.
Inan said in a press statement on Wednesday: Iraq is ‘a country that has suffered from occupation, conflicts, and the cruel violence of terrorist organizations for more than 40 years,’ and that Turkey understands well its concerns in this regard as a neighboring country suffering from terrorism.
The Turkish ambassador praised the great progress made by the two countries in combating terrorism and activating the high-level security mechanism in this context, following the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Iraq last August.
He pointed out that the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) organization was classified as posing a “common threat” to the two countries at the meeting held in Ankara in December 2023, and was declared a “banned organization” a
t the March 2024 meeting.
Inan explained that the ongoing military operations of the Turkish Armed Forces in northern Iraq are taking place with full respect for the territorial integrity of Iraq, and aim to eliminate the PKK terrorist organization that threatens the national security of Turkey and Iraq.
On another level, the Turkish ambassador said: ‘There have been positive developments that have appeared in Iraq recently, and it appears that it is working quickly by taking concrete steps to strengthen the state’s mechanism in foreign and domestic policy, and that ‘Iraq is taking positive steps to restore its previous weight in foreign policy.’
He explained that his country wants to increase talks in areas of cooperation and diversify dialogue channels, and attaches importance to communications at the leadership level. Turkey also always desires and supports the continuation of the democratic process that is progressing in a healthy manner in Iraq.
Speaking about the water issue between Turkey and Iraq,
Inan stressed that President Erdogan views the water issue from an Islamic and humanitarian perspective, pointing to the importance of the agreement signed on the issue of water, and that with the arrival of Turkish companies to Iraq with this agreement, Ankara and Baghdad will work to build water infrastructure in Iraq together.
Speaking about the development road project, Inan stated that the project is an Iraqi project, and that rapid progress is required in this regard. He said: ‘We note that the project in Al-Faw Port is progressing rapidly. However, we believe that the development road project in general should be accelerated.’
Source: National Iraqi News Agency