Sharp Exchange of Accusations Between Turkish and Iraqi Prim

[Welato_21]

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- The Iraqi government announced today that has lodged an official complaint with Turkey’s ambassador to Baghdad following a public exchange of words between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki.

According to a government website, Labeed Abbawi, Undersecretary to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, “acquainted the Turkish Ambassador [Younis Demerer] with the Iraqi government's intense protest against the recent statements" and “expressed hope that the Turkish government will stop giving statements that affect Iraq's sovereignty and internal affairs.”

Erdoğan last week claimed that Maliki, a Shiite, was fanning sectarian tensions in Iraq through his “self-centered” behavior. Maliki responded by calling Turkey a “hostile state” which was engaging in “unjustified interference in Iraqi affairs” and trying to establish hegemony in the region.

Erdoğan refused to comment on Maliki’s accusations, saying: “If we respond to Mr. Maliki, we give him an opportunity to show off,” but added that even Shiite Iraqis are tired of his sectarian politics. “One of the Shiite leaders in the country, I won't give his name, has made a statement to me, saying, 'Maliki has surmounted Saddam Hussein in dictatorship,'” Erdoğan said.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry also issued a statement saying that "the foundation of the political crisis in which Iraq finds itself is that Iraqi politicians seek to consolidate power and exclude others, rather than politics that are based on democratic and universal principles."

The Ministry then recommended that Maliki “lean towards a political approach that embraces all segments of his people on the basis of democratic and universal values and respect for the Iraqi Constitution as soon as possible, instead of seeking out abroad those responsible for the political problems in his country. If he does so, he will see that he will be able to earn Iraqi people’s trust as well as Turkey’s support.”

The public spat follows an official visit to Turkey by Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdish Region, which is itself engaged in a dispute with Baghdad after Barzani accused Maliki of dictatorial policies.

Barzani also offered sanctuary to Iraqi Vice President Tarıq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, after a warrant was issued for his arrest last December on charges of running a death-squad responsible for the assassination of Shiite officials. Barzani met with Hashemi, who is currently living in Istanbul, during his visit to the city last week.

Middle East observers are expressing concern that the row between the two neighbors is a sign of growing Sunni-Shiite tension in the region, as predominantly Sunni Turkey lines up against Maliki, Iran and Bashar al-Assad’s violent suppression of Syria’s mainly Sunni population.

Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, head of Ankara's International Strategic and Security Research Center (USGAM), says that Maliki’s recent comments must be viewed in the context of his government’s alliance with the Shiite regime in Iran. Maliki, who is currently on an official visit to Tehran, “is paying lip-service to Iran, which is trying to implement Shiite political dominance in the region,” Erol told Turkish daily Today’s Zaman. In response, he said, Turkey is being forced to protect Sunni rights in the region.