Iraq's Neighboring Countries' Meeting To Start In Istanbul On Friday

ANKARA - The two-day official meeting of Iraq's neighboring countries will start in Istanbul tomorrow (Friday).
Neighboring countries' high ranking officials will meet on the first day (Friday), while their foreign ministers will have a meeting on the second day (Saturday).
Representatives from Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, EU, OIC and Arab League's secretaries general and UN Secretary General's representative to Iraq will attend the meeting which is important as it is going to be held for the first time after Jan. 30th elections in Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has also been invited to the meeting, but it is not yet certain if he is going to attend the meeting. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also expected to attend the meeting.
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul will represent Turkey in the meeting. Gul will stress the political unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and peaceful co-existence of all groups in Iraq.
Diplomatic sources said that Gul would express pleasure over holding of the elections in Iraq, but would add that it would be better if Sunnis also joined the elections. Gul is also going to extend support to efforts for preparation of the Iraqi constitution.
Gul who will confirm Turkey's readiness to help Iraq both in political and also in economic areas, will particularly focus on the importance of Kirkuk issue and focus on Turkey's concerns.
The first meeting of Iraq's neighboring countries was held in Istanbul with the goal of preventing the potential Iraqi war and later it was respectively held in Riyadh, Tehran, Damascus, Kuwait, Egypt (twice) and Jordan. Iraq's neighbors started to discuss methods of helping Iraq in their previous meetings.