Iraqi and Turkish Foreign Ministers Discuss Water, Turkish Military Presence and PKK
(AWP) - Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein discussed several issues with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, on Tuesday, including water and the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.
Following their meeting, the Iraqi minister said in a joint press conference that the pair discussed "Baghdad obtaining a fair share of water," and that Fidan "proposed the formation of a permanent committee to discuss the water issue between the two countries".
The Iraqi News Agency quoted Fuad as saying that he "had an important and practical meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister, and the Iraqi-Turkish relations are important for both parties, and we care about them. The fact that our relationship is broad, important, and continuous sometimes highlights some complications, and our principle is to reach a solution through talks".
He added that the two countries’ economic and trade ties are "in a state of continuous increase” and said that there are nearly 850 Turkish companies working in Iraq, mostly in the construction and building sector, and that about 700,000 Iraqis live in Turkey.
"We discussed facilitating granting Iraqis entry [visas] to Turkey, and we touched on draft memorandums of understanding and the need to expedite their conclusion," Hussein said.
The Iraqi Foreign Minister tackled the security and military situations and the Turkish military presence in Iraq, saying that this matter was at the heart of the discussions.
"We are committed to the Iraqi constitution, and no one is allowed to use Iraqi land to attack its neighbours," he added.
The Turkish Foreign Minister said that he had discussed with his Iraqi counterpart the fight against terrorism, as he told Hussein that Turkey would not allow the PKK to "poison our relationship with Iraq".
"We must not remain indifferent to its (PKK) challenge to Iraqi sovereignty," Fidan added.
"The PKK has actually occupied Sulaymaniyah, Makhmur, Sinjar and the Qandil Mountains, and seeks to unite these areas with the corridor it established between Syria and Iraq by ignoring the borders," he added.
The Turkish Foreign Minister indicated that his country "is providing Iraq with all the support in its fight against the PKK," and that it wants Baghdad to officially designate the party as a "terrorist organisation".
"We are ready to work with Iraq in the war against any [terrorist organisation], whatever its name is, [whether] ISIS or the PKK," the Turkish minister added.
During the conference, Fidan called on all countries in the region to support the Route of Development project and said, "we will work for the elevation of relations between the two countries to the highest levels and to solve existing problems." He also expressed Turkey's support for the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani.