Turkey's Gul makes landmark visit to Iraq

24/03/2009

The Turkish and Iraqi presidents vowed on Monday to co-operate in ending the terrorist activities of Kurdish rebels who use bases in northern Iraq to launch attacks on Turkey.

(Zaman, Hurriyet, Washington Post - 24/03/09; Reuters, AFP, DPA, Euronews, VOA - 23/03/09)

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (2nd from left) and Turkish President Abdullah Gul (centre) review an honour guard Monday (March 23rd) in Baghdad. [Getty Images]

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Monday (March 23rd) that Iraqi suppression of the activities of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is a requirement for full co-operation between Ankara and Baghdad.

"As it normalises, Iraq must control its territory and cannot allow terrorists to operate," the president said before starting his two-day trip to Baghdad, the first by a Turkish head of state in 33 years. "Iraq needs to quash the terrorist organisation, and only then will it get 100% co-operation from its neighbours."

Gul received a warm welcome by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who assured him Iraq would make every effort to halt the PKK rebels' terrorist activities.

Members of the terrorist group have been using their bases in Iraq's northern mountains as a springboard for attacks inside Turkey.

Stressing Iraq's constitution prohibits armed activities, Talabani, himself a Kurd, said on Monday that the PKK should either lay down their weapons or leave his country's territory.

"Any attacks on our democratic neighbour [Turkey] will be considered terrorist attacks and do a disservice to the [Kurdish] people they claim to be representing," the Iraqi leader said at a joint press conference with Gul. "The presence of PKK forces on Iraqi soil has harmed villagers from over 500 Kurdish towns."

The PKK presence in Iraq is the most contentious issue in Turkish-Iraqi relations. Ankara has often accused Iraqi Kurds and their autonomous administration in northern Iraq, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), of tolerating or even helping the PKK.

"It is time to finish with these problems because they harm relations between our two countries," Gul said, stressing the need for joint action against terrorism.

Earlier this year, Turkey, Iraq and the United States established a joint command centre to gather intelligence to help end PKK activities.

"Terrorism and those who practise it are a scourge. They must be punished," the DPA quoted Gul as saying. "It is time to end these problems that harm relations between Turkey and Iraq."

Among the officials Gul plans to meet in Baghdad are Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, as well as Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of the KRG.

Aside from the PKK problem, talks in Baghdad are expected to focus on economic and trade relations.

The countries are reportedly seeking to increase bilateral trade, currently worth an estimated 3.5 billion euros. More than 20% of Iraqi oil exports pass through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Another issue on Gul's agenda, reports Reuters, is the allocation of water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which originate in Turkey but flow through Iraq.