ANKARA - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Saturday that they wanted the relations between Turkey and Iraq to improve in all areas and suggested establishment of a "Supreme Political Council" presided by either the Prime Ministers or Foreign Ministers of the two countries.
Talabani said that such council could work for the improvement and supervision of bilateral relations between the countries.
Delivering a speech at a luncheon held in his honor by Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Talabani said Iraq desired to establish long-term and strategic relations with Turkey.
He said Iraq wanted to improve cooperation with Turkey in many areas including economy, security, politics, oil, energy and culture.
Commenting on terrorism issue as well, Talabani said the fight against terrorism was a moral obligation for all countries which called themselves democratic states.
Talabani, who said that Iraq shared Turkey`s concerns on this issue, also noted that terrorism could be fought with joint activities and such "calamity" could only be overcome that way.
In addition to Talabani and the accompanying Iraqi ministers, Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay, State Minister and Deputy PM Cemil Cicek, State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, Energy & Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler, Industry & Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan, Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy chairman Egemen Bagis, Turkish Prime Ministry Chief Adviser Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish MFA Undersecretary Ertugrul Apakan and deputy Turkish envoy to Iraq Murat Ozcelik attended the luncheon.
(DO-EÖ)