ANKARA - ''Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki and FM Hoshiyar Zebari in principle accepted invitations to visit Turkey,'' Turkish MFA Spokesman Namik Tan announced on Wednesday.
Speaking at a weekly news conference, Tan said Turkey's Special Envoy to Iraq Oguz Celikkol paid a one-day visit to Iraq on Tuesday and conveyed messages of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, congratulating newly established government in Iraq.
Tan said the visit aimed at emphasizing Turkey's support to the new Iraq government and noted that Erdogan and Gul invited their counterparts to Turkey.
Stating that Celikkol also invited Iraqi Vice President Tariq Hashimi, Economy Minister Berham Saleh, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmud Al-Mashadani, U.S. Ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad and other Iraqi executives to visit Turkey, Tan added that they accepted the invitations in principle as well.
''Within this scope we expect Iraqi FM and Economy Minister to pay a visit to Turkey soon,'' Tan indicated.