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Turkish PM boosts ties with Iraq | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has support from Iraq's government and Iraqi Kurdish leaders to fight the Kurdish rebel group, the PKK. | |
Mr Erdogan, only the second regional leader to visit Iraq since 2003, spoke at a joint Baghdad news conference with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. | |
He said the nations would work together to build security and economic ties. | |
Mr Erdogan was also expected to sign trade agreements and discuss Iraqi investment and reconstruction plans. | |
The Turkish prime minister spoke of a joint understanding between the two nations, as well regional Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq, to tackle the PKK - an issue which has previously strained relations. | |
He said: "The PKK is a terrorist organisation, which is not only Turkey's enemy but Iraq's as well. | |
"We will not allow such attempts to poison relations in the region or between the two countries." | |
Mr Maliki described the occasion as "a historic visit", saying: "The time is right for Turkey and Iraq to have developed relations." | |
Cross-border attacks | Cross-border attacks |
The presence in the mountainous northern Iraqi border region of fighters from the rebel Turkish Kurdish movement, the PKK, has been the cause of tension between the two nations. | |
The rebels have been blamed by Ankara for a number of cross-border attacks. | |
Turkey has launched ground, air and artillery attacks on suspected PKK bases in northern Iraq, which is generally under the control of the Iraqi Kurdish regional government and its forces. | Turkey has launched ground, air and artillery attacks on suspected PKK bases in northern Iraq, which is generally under the control of the Iraqi Kurdish regional government and its forces. |
The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says that for the Iraqi government, the vital thing is the visit itself. | The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says that for the Iraqi government, the vital thing is the visit itself. |
Mr Erdogan is only the second leader of a country neighbouring Iraq to visit the country since the US-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein in 2003. | |
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went to Baghdad in March, but no Arab head of state has done so for at least five years. | |
The visit by Mr Ahmadinejad reinforced the perception that Iraq, under its new government dominated by Shia Muslims and Kurds, was falling under Iranian influence, our correspondent says. | |
The Iraqi government is keen to counter that impression, by encouraging closer ties with other regional states. Turkey has been the first to respond. | The Iraqi government is keen to counter that impression, by encouraging closer ties with other regional states. Turkey has been the first to respond. |
Some mainly Sunni Arab states have plans to revive their embassies and involvement in Baghdad, but it is proving a slow process, our correspondent adds. | |
King Abdullah of Jordan had been expected to visit earlier this week, but the trip was called off at the last minute over security concerns. |