Expert: Turkey, Iraq keen to boost ties

Ankara and Baghdad are keen to boost ties in many areas, a Turkish expert on the Middle East said, as the Iraqi prime minister visited Turkey for talks this week, Anadolu Agency reports.

“I think it’s known that Turkey is a major force in eliminating the security problems of Iraq as well as restructuring and development of the country,” Ali Semin, a Middle East expert, told Anadolu Agency.

The Iraqi prime minister’s remarks that Turkey is a very significant country in the Middle East shows that Iraq wants to further develop relations with Turkey, according to Semin.

Mustafa al-Kadhimi visited Turkey on Thursday to discuss regional, bilateral, and economic ties.

Speaking on the visit, Semin said Iraq, a country struggling with internal and external problems, wants to benefit from Turkey’s experiences.

The expert stressed that Iraq has many problems such as security, fight against corruption, economic crisis, problems with the Erbil administration, the effects of tension between Iran and the US plus militia forces that are out of state control.

READ: Iraqi PM to discuss security, economy on Turkey visit

Stuck between Iran, the US, and the Arab world, Iraq needs Turkey, Semin stressed, adding: “[Al-Kadhimi] thinks that Turkey is a very serious windpipe.”

“Turkey is truly the only solution for Iraq’s prosperity. But Turkey also has expectations,” Semin said.

Referring to the problems between Turkey and Iraq, Semin noted that Iraq should invest in water to solve its water problem.

Mentioning the lack of infrastructure in Iraq to use the water coming from Turkey, Semin said: “[Iraq] needs to build dams, invest in water, and solve the infrastructure problem. To increase the water supply is not a problem for Turkey. But even if the amount of supplied water rises to 10%, Iraq will still need water because there is no structure to use it consciously.”

Reminding a joint target of expanding the bilateral trade volume to $20 billion, he said this goal could not be achieved due to the capacity of Habur Border Gate in the Silopi district of Turkey’s southeastern Sirnak province, which could only happen with the opening of the Ovakoy Border Gate.

READ: Where does Iraq fall in the new US administration’s policy?