Press releases

31 October 2007, Statement of the Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey in Response to a Question.
(Unofficial Translation)

We consider the visit of a delegation with a wide range of representation from friendly and fraternal Iraq to Turkey as a positive effort.

This visit was proposed by the Iraqi side during the telephone conversation between Prime Minister Erdogan and Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq a short while ago.
This proposal has also been reiterated to our Minister by all his interlocutors during the Minister’s recent visit to Baghdad.As has been previously expressed by our side, our expectation from this delegation was that it would inform us of the urgent steps that Iraq would take, throughout its entire territory, to combat the PKK terrorist organization and, in this context, bring forward concrete proposals.
It has been observed that the Iraqi side approached this issue in good faith and demonstrated sincerity. Nevertheless, today we saw that the Iraqi delegation brought forward certain ideas, the implementation of which would take a longtime. The time factor, however, is crucial.

Turkey expects from Iraq urgent and determined measures in combating the PKKterrorist organization.

Republic of Turkey - Ministry of Foreign Affairs