Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, right,
shakes hands with Kurdistan regional President
Massoud Barzani prior their meeting, in Erbil,
the Iraqi Kurdistan's capital, 350 kilometers
(217 miles) north of Baghdad, Friday, Oct. 30, 2009.
Davutoglu and State Minister Zafer Caglayan, in
charge of foreign trade, flew to Iraq on Friday for
a two-day visit. Photo AP •
See Related Articles
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, right,
shakes hands with the outgoing PM of Kurdistan region
Nechirvan Barzani in Erbil, the Iraqi Kurdistan's capital, 350 kilometers
(217 miles) north of Baghdad, Friday, Oct. 30, 2009.
Photo KRG
Turkish Officials Make Historic Visit to Erbil
October 31, 2009
ERBIL-Hewlęr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmed Davutoglu arrived in the autonomous Kurdistan
region of Iraq on Friday, as part of Ankara's
efforts to end a conflict with Kurdish rebels based
across its southern border.
Davutoglu's visit to Erbil, the first by a Turkish
minister to the region, will include talks with
Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani,www.ekurd.netand
follows a short trip to Iraq's southern port of
Basra, where he opened a new Turkish consulate.
The visit is also a sign of improving ties between
Baghdad and Ankara, and follows a trip to Baghdad by
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
earlier in the month.
Davutoglu, Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan and a
delegation of around 70 officials and businessmen
were received at the airport by Kurdish prime
minister Barham Salih and Iraqi Foreign Minister
Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, an AFP journalist said.
They did not make any statements or speak to the
press.
Turkey has been involved in a 25-year-long bloody
conflict with the Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast
of Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan), which has rear bases
in Iraqi Kurdistan, that has claimed around 45,000
lives.
The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds'
identity in its constitution and of their language
as a native language along with
Turkish in the country's Kurdish areas, the party also demanded an end to ethnic
discrimination in Turkish laws and constitution
against Kurds, ranting them full political freedoms.
The PKK is considered as 'terrorist' organization by
Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the
blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which
overturned a decision
to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its
political wing on the European Union's terror list.
Turkish-Iraqi ties have gathered steam since they
formed a joint committee with the United States last
November to combat the PKK. It meets every two
months to exchange intelligence and to coordinate
security measures against the rebels.
Earlier on Friday, Davutoglu and Caglayan visited
Basra to open a new Turkish consulate. Turkey
already has an embassy in Baghdad and a consulate in
the northern city of Mosul.
It is planning to open another consulate, in Erbil,
shortly.
"This visit is to crown the improved relations
between Iraq and Turkey, and showcases joint trade
and economic cooperation between the two countries,"
Iraq's Parliamentary Affairs Minister Safaldin al-Safi
told reporters after receiving the Turkish
delegation in Basra.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, AFP | ekurd.net |
Agencies
Top |
®
