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Turkey-Iraq relations on the decline
8.6.2012
By Enis Erdem Aydin for SES Türkiye
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Ekurd.net |
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Tension is high between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki (L) and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan (R) Photo: AFP
Turkey has articulated a
non-sectarian policy towards Iraq, advocating
instead for power sharing among all groups.
June 8, 2012
ISTANBUL, — Relations between Turkey and
Iraq have deteriorated sharply, prompting pundits to
describe the 'zero problems' foreign policy as
turning into one of 'zero relations'. While Turkey's
policy towards Iraq has been perceived in some
circles as sectarian-driven, this perception belies
the deep economic and political relations built up
with all parties in Iraq over the past decade.
Turkish foreign policy in Iraq after the ousting of
Saddam Hussein espoused constructive mediation and
engagement with all parties, including the Kurds,
Sunnis and Shi'as. Turkey enjoyed a high-level of
trust and support in the country due to efforts by
the Turkish government and companies in the
reconstruction of Iraq, especially in the country's
north. In 2011, bilateral trade between Turkey and
Iraq reached $12 billion.
However, events took a turn in 2010 when Turkey
backed the Iraqiyya bloc, composed of Sunnis and
secular Shi'as under the leadership of Iyad Allawi.
This support to his rivals irritated Iraqi's Shi'a
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who described Turkey
as a "hostile state" in April. Turkey's growing
economic and political relationship with the Iraqi
Kurds also irked Maliki, who the Kurdish leader
Massoud Barzani has called a "dictator". Turkey's
oil deal with the KRG in late May added further fuel
to the fire.
Turkey's position vis-à-vis Maliki is not driven by
sectarianism, but concern that the
over-consolidation of power into his hands could
endanger Iraq's fragile structure by pushing other
ethnic and religious groups in Iraq out of
decision-making processes, leading to chaos or
worse, breakup.
More recently, relations took a new twist with the
Hashemi saga. The Sunni vice president of Iraq and
key member of the Iraqiyya bloc, Tariq al-Hashemi,
upon allegations of having had run terrorist death
squads, took refuge in Istanbul following a brief
stay in Erbil.
An Interpol warrant for Hashemi, and Turkey's
reluctance to extradite him on May 19th, led to a
protest and burning of the Turkish flag in front of
Turkey's Basra consulate, which was met with
"condemnation" by Turkey's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
Ramzy Mardini, an Iraq analyst at the Institute for
the Study of War, said Turkey has been placed in a
difficult position.
"Ankara's moral support for Hashemi has been used to
sectarianise its image as the Ottoman protector of
the Sunnis," he told SES Türkiye. "Turkey has tried
hard to engage all sects and not to be placed in any
corner on the sectarian spectrum," he added.
Indeed Ufuk Ulutaş, a Middle East affairs expert at
the SETA Foundation in Ankara, said that as Maliki
tries to consolidate control in Iraq, he is
punishing Turkey for its previous support of the
Iraqiyya list.
"Turkey's relationship with various actors in Iraqi
politics, including the Kurds, Shi'a groups and
Sunnis, is troublesome from Maliki's perspective,
and the Hashemi affair is only a pretext for
Maliki's bitter criticism of Turkey," he explained.
As a result, Ulutas said any future rapprochement
between Turkey and Iraq is dependent on factions in
Iraq agreeing on a collective road map and power
sharing. "Iraqi reconciliation therefore would
ameliorate bilateral ties," he said.
The crack in relations with Baghdad ironically has
surfaced at a time when Turkey has sought to foster
good relations with the country's Shi'a-dominated
south. After opening a consulate in Basra in 2009,
Turkey invested heavily to enhance relations with
the south.
In March 2011, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
before visiting the capital of the Kurdish region in
the north, Erbil, also visited Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shias,www.ekurd.net
in Najaf. In March of this year Turkish Airlines
increased its Istanbul-Basra flights from a single
trip to four per week, while Turkish construction
companies have expanded their operations in Basra.
However, Turkey is not the only country investing in
Iraq's south. Iran has a wide and historical
societal base in Iraq based on the Shi'a holy places
in the country. It is estimated that every year
around 2 million Iranian pilgrims visit these
shrines.
Recent years also saw a boost in Iran-Iraq economic
relations: trade volume rose from $690m in 2006 to
$5 billion in 2012. Iranian companies invested to
build power plants in the country, including two
plants in Sadr City, the stronghold of the
influential Shi'a religious-cum-political leader
Muqtada al-Sadr.
On the political level, an indication of Iranian
"investment" in Iraq was the appointment of Ali
Akbar Salehi, a Karbala-born diplomat as Iranian
foreign minister in 2010. Salehi, resting on his
origins, became an influential figure in Iraqi
politics, especially among the Shi'a circles,
including Prime Minister Maliki.
Bahram Amirahmadian, an independent foreign policy
researcher in Tehran, said the Hashemi affair is of
only minor importance to Turkey-Iraq relations in
the long run.
"Iraq needs Turkey because of its economic ties and
they have common concerns and interests, such as the
Kurdish issue, which is more important than
Hashemi's sheltering," he told SES Türkiye.
"If the neighbouring countries leave Iraq to develop
and shape in the way its political parties want, it
will be of benefit to both Iran and Turkey,"
Amirahmadian said. "Sooner or later there will be a
change in the Iraqi government, and it will be
better that Turkey and Iran do not damage their
relations," he added.
Published by Ekurd.net in cooperation with Southeast
European Times.
Copyright © respective author or news agency, setimes.com
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