BY ERDAL SAGLAM
HURRIYET- Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu places special importance on the development of versatile relations with Iraq. He said there would be a bilateral cabinet meeting attended by prime ministers, foreign ministers and top officials of both countries. Speaking yesterday with journalists, Davutoglu said that though there are serious disagreements between the northern Iraqi administration and Baghdad, Turkey doesn't want such a conflict, adding that next January's elections are key and that unless they are transparent, the next several years could be problematic. Davutoglu reiterated that Turkey has good relations both with the northern Iraqi administration and Baghdad and that all ethnic and religious groups would be represented at the joint cabinet meeting.
On the Kurdish issue, Davutoglu brushed off talk of Imrali (where convicted terrorist Abdullah Ocalan is serving a life sentence), saying that Turkey can produce solution of its own will through its Cabinet, National Security Council (NSC), etc., not some other way. He also spoke of his first NSC meeting and having a long meeting with the chief of General Staff when he became foreign minister. He added that there is very strong agreement with the military on international relations, saying that it's natural that there are different points of views, which complement each other, but this doesn't mean there are disagreements. Davutoglu stressed that Turkey sees no difference between Erbil (the capital of the northern Iraqi regional administration) and Basra (another important Iraqi city) and that it sees the issue not from outside, but inside.
Davutoglu said that these issues would be dealt with by a Strategic Cooperation Council which Turkey and Iraq agreed to set up last year, but gave no exact date. Speaking to TRT last week, he stressed not economic cooperation, but economic integration. I think this gives important clues about the future of our ties with Iraq. We don't know how it will be done, but obviously we're getting close to a concrete solution to the Kurdish issue using our relations with Iraq. Turkey developing good relations with Iraq is also important in terms of our long-term interests. Energy will be one plank of these relations. In other words, relations with Iraq are critically important in terms of Turkey's position in the global energy game.
In sum, developing relations with Iraq will benefit Turkey, our people, and our children. But populism - in other words, determining long-term policies in line with popular but fleeting desires and emotions - is most likely to work against us, as we know from economic policies.