Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki said that he was prepared to hold urgent talks with the Turkish govt to defuse the crisis over a possible military incursion into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas.
Al-Maliki also said he was planning an emergency meeting on Tuesday with close aides to review the situation on the Iraqi-Turkish border, where hillsides near villages were struck by rockets and artillery over the weekend.
"We are prepared to conduct urgent talks with the top officials of the Turkish government to discuss and solve all outstanding problems and give guarantees that will govern relations between the two neighbouring nations," al-Maliki said in an official statement from his office.
"We are fully confident that our friends in the Turkish government are committed, just as it is our wish, to bolstering and developing our bilateral relations on the basis of mutual respect, nonintervention in the other's internal affairs and not allowing the harmful use of each other's territory," the statement said.
Al-Maliki did not say whether he wanted to travel to Ankara to talk with Turkish leaders or invite them to Baghdad, but his comments appeared to reflect growing concern in Iraq over the crisis on the border with NATO-member and close US ally Turkey. - DDNEWS
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
