Anti-PKK unit starts functionning in Arbil
A subcommittee established by Turkey, Iraq and the United States to crack down on the terrorist PKK organization, in northern Iraq has started to function in the Kurdish city of Arbil, the Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed yesterday.
“Several arrangements were made to allow a branch of the subcommittee to operate in Arbil in order to effectively work toward the elimination of the PKK,” Burak Özügergin, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry told reporters in his weekly press conference. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama offers support for Turkey-Iraq relationship
U.S. President Barack Obama has told Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan he hoped to strengthen ties with their country and expressed support for Turkey’s growing relationship with Iraq, the White House said on Monday.
Obama spoke to the two men by phone earlier in the day.
“In both calls, the leaders discussed a number of current issues, including U.S. support for the growing Turkish-Iraqi relationship, the importance of cooperation in Middle East peace efforts, and the U.S. review on Afghanistan and Pakistan policy,” the White House said in a statement. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkish Initiatives Raise Hopes for Iraqi Elections
The Turkish government, which has been working with the international community to contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq, will dispatch observers for Iraq’s provincial elections on January 31. Turkey’s team is the second largest, only after the United States. BesidesTurkey and the U.S., some other countries and international organizations are also sending election observers to Iraq.
Provincial elections will be held in 14 out of 18 Iraqi provinces. These elections will provide a critical new opportunity to strengthen national reconciliation in Iraq, establish a culture of democracy there and ensure a fair representation at the local levels. Therefore, all Iraqi political groups as well as the international community attach great importance to the fair, democratic, transparent and secure conduct of the provincial elections. Read the rest of this entry »
Arbil to be center of joint committee between Turkey, Iraq and U.S.
Hurriyet
The northern Iraqi city of Arbil will be the center of a trilateral committee formed to struggle against terrorism in a step that could be seen as an important policy shift for Turkey.
“There is a trilateral mechanism established by us, Turkey and the United States. We want to form a joint command center in Arbil,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan in Ankara.
Turkey, Iraq and the U.S. in November formed a joint committee to combat the PKK after holding three-way talks in Baghdad as part of efforts to boost cooperation against the terrorists. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkey sends observers to Iraq elections, early voting begins
Hurriyet
A group of Turkish observers will monitor Saturday’s Iraqi provincial elections as polling stations opened across the country on Wednesday in the first stage of the provincial election, the nation’s first ballot since 2005.
Turkish observers, consisting of 26 academicians, researchers and representatives of think-tanks, will monitor elections together with nearly 1,000 foreign observers in Iraq, the Anatolian Agency reported.
About 614,000 police, soldiers, hospital patients and prisoners are entitled to vote at 1,672 established polling centers that opened at 7:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) and will close at 5:00 p.m. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkish president invites Kirkuk ethnic groups to gather in Ankara
Hurriyet
Turkish President Abdullah Gul has called on the representatives of Kirkuk’s ethnic groups to convene in Ankara, an Iraqi Shi’ite Turkmen MP from the United Iraqi Alliance said on Monday.
The fate of Kirkuk, an ancient city that was once part of the Ottoman Empire, is one of the most divisive issues in Iraq. Control over Kirkuk, a mixed city of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, and the surrounding oil wealth, is in dispute between the city’s three ethnic groups.
“The meeting of the representatives of the Iraqi components is related with their approval and willingness to discuss this sensitive issue on a round table with a Turkish readiness to offer the circumstances of succeeding the meeting,” Abbas al-Bayati told Baghdad-based al-Sabah newspaper. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkey wary over status of Kirkuk
Middle East Times
Turkey cautioned against moving too quickly on a referendum to settle the disputed status of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, officials said.
Abbas al-Bayati, a Shiite Turkomen with the United Iraqi Alliance coalition, said Turkish President Abdullah Gul invited members from the ethnic community in Kirkuk to meet in Ankara to discuss the way forward on the disputed city, Turkey’s daily newspaper Hurriyet reported Monday.
Iraq holds provincial elections in 14 of the 18 provinces Jan. 31. The vote is delayed in the three Kurdish provinces and Kirkuk because of territorial disputes.
Ethnic Kurds, Sunnis and Turkomen disagree over whether Kirkuk should be considered part of greater Iraq or Iraqi Kurdistan. The vote in Kirkuk is postponed indefinitely. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkmen leader fires top officials
Hurriyet
Energy-rich Turkmenistan’s president has fired almost one-third of his Cabinet and the head of the state oil company in a large-scale reshuffle reminiscent of his eccentric predecessor’s frequent purges.
In a government meeting televised late Thursday, President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov charged officials with committing “unforgivable mistakes and miscalculations.”
The most prominent casualties included the ministers for energy, communications, and tourism. The heads of the state oil company Turkmenneft and the state geological agency, which explores the country’s vast hydrocarbon resources, were also dismissed. Read the rest of this entry »
Three Turkmen Shiite brothers shot dead in Iraq
AFP
Three Shiite Turkmen, including a local leader of the Badr political group, were shot dead outside their home in northern Iraq on Thursday, a security official said.
The incident occurred in the village of Amerli, south of the oil hub of Kirkuk, local police Lieutenant Colonel Jowdat Abdullah told AFP.
“We have opened up an investigation to see whether the killing was the result of a terrorist act or a family feud,” he said, adding that one of the brothers was a member of the local police force. Read the rest of this entry »
Connecting people in Istanbul and Kirkuk overland
Hurriyet
As relations between Turkey and northern Iraq begin to heal, a bus company has started traveling between Istanbul and Kirkuk.
Although there are only a limited number of buses traveling, knowing there is way to travel is believed to have made people feel closer to one another, reported daily Zaman.
The buses carry Turkmen, Arab and Kurdish people who want to visit family, relatives and friends in Istanbul. The buses, owned by a company based in the southeastern city of Mardin, currently travel twice a week. Although the trip is long and difficult, it is as popular as flight tickets to Kirkuk from Istanbul, which cost around $500 while the bus trip costs $130. The reason that flight tickets are so expensive is that the flights have high insurance premiums because of Iraq’s security issues. Read the rest of this entry »