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| Iraq |
| Iraqi president seeks to build on Turkey ties |
| 2008-03-09 |
| ANKARA - President Jalal Talabani said on Saturday Iraq was keen to boost economic and political ties with Turkey a week after Ankara ended an army offensive against separatist PKK guerrillas in northern Iraq. The PKK issue and Turkey’s fears that Kurds in northern Iraq aim to create their own state have strained relations between the two countries. Talabani aimed to defuse some of those tensions. ‘We want to establish strategic relations in every area including oil, the economy, trade, culture and politics,’ Talabani told a meeting with Turkish business leaders on his first visit to Turkey as head of state. Talabani also called on Turkish companies to invest in Iraq on the second day of his visit to Ankara, state-run Anatolian news agency reported. ‘We are ready to make it easy for you (to invest) in all regions including the country’s south, Baghdad and Kurdistan,’ he said. Talabani, a Kurd, said on Friday he had called on the government of Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region to pressure the PKK to give up their weapons or leave the region. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to host a lunch for Talabani at his official residence on Saturday. |
| Posted by:Steve White |