President Erdoğan: There is no place for separatist terrorism in the future of Turkey, Iraq and Syria

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi of Iraq held a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Complex.

Noting that Turkey always stands by Iraqi Prime Minister al-Kadhimi, President Erdoğan said that bilateral and regional issues were thoroughly discussed in today’s meeting.

“As the two neighboring countries, we are determined to strengthen our bilateral relations in all areas,” said the President. “We have encountered a variety of challenges, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020. We have supported our Iraqi brothers and sisters in the fight against the pandemic, the establishment of security, and the settlement of political problems. The importance we attach to the political unity, territorial integrity, stability and security of Iraq is well known to all. We also stand ready to support by all means the reconstruction of Iraq. We see the entire Iraqi people -- be they Turkmens, Kurds, Arabs, Shiites or Sunnis -- as our true brothers and sisters. We are confident that the Iraqi government, with its inclusive and comprehensive policies, will ensure that there is peace for the entire Iraqi people. This confidence of ours was further consolidated by Prime Minister al-Kadhimi’s decision to include a Turkmen minister in the Iraqi cabinet after a long while. I would like to congratulate Mr. Prime Minister once again for this decision of his which is highly meaningful for our nation and the Iraqi Turkmens.”

“OUR FIGHT WILL CONTINUE UNTIL THE ERADICATION OF THE HERD OF MURDERERS THAT BRING NOTHING BUT DESTRUCTION TO OUR REGION”

Pointing out that Turkey and Iraq agreed to continue their fight against their common enemies, namely the DAESH, PKK and FETO terror groups, President Erdoğan said: “We have reaffirmed our consensus to enhance cooperation in this regard. Let me reiterate that there is no place for separatist terrorism in the future of Turkey, Iraq and Syria. With its attacks targeting civilians, the separatist organization has once again shown its atrocious face and whom it actually serves.”

The terror attacks perpetrated yesterday clearly show that the separatist organization’s Syrian branch poses a threat to the security of Iraq, stated President Erdoğan, and went on to say: “There will be no peace in our region before crushing the head of separatist terror.  Therefore, we appreciate the operations the Iraqi authorities conduct against the PKK. We are lending support to our Iraqi brothers and sisters in line with our right to legitimate self-defense.  We will maintain our fight until the eradication of these herd of murderers that bring nothing but blood, tears and destruction to our region.”

“TURKEY AND IRAQ CAN EASILY ACHIEVE THE $20 BILLION TRADE VOLUME TARGET”

Highlighting that Turkey and Iraq can easily achieve the $20 billion trade volume target, President Erdoğan described the agreement signed today on the prevention of double taxation as a reflection of the two countries’ determination to remove the obstacles before Turkish and Iraqi businesspeople.

Drawing attention to the great potential for cooperation in energy, President Erdoğan pointed to the two countries’ shared desire for the Kirkuk-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline, which was destroyed by DAESH, to resume transferring Kirkuk oil, in larger amounts this time, to global markets after it is repaired as soon as possible.

Turkey is ready to share its experience and knowledge in irrigation technologies, wastewater treatment and eco-friendly practices with Iraq, further stressed the President, and added: “We especially underscore that water must be viewed as an area of cooperation rather than a matter of disagreement. We sincerely believe that we will achieve this with the brotherly Iraq.”

IRAQI PRIME MINISTER AL-KADHIMI: “IRAQ ALWAYS SEEKS GOOD RELATIONS WITH ITS NEIGHBORS”

Iraqi Prime Minister al-Kadhimi, for his part, said: “Iraq always seeks good relations with its neighbors. We don’t want to have problems with any of our neighbors.”

Emphasizing that Iraq has a clear stance regarding the security issue, Prime Minister al-Kadhimi underlined that it is impossible for Baghdad to tolerate any terrorist formation that threatens Turkey’s national security from Iraqi territories.