Relations between Iraq and Syria deteriorated after Baghdad alleged that Damascus was harboring insurgents behind one of two devastating truck bombings that killed 95 people and wounded about 600 in the Iraqi capital on Aug. 19. On Aug. 25, Iraq recalled its ambassador in Damascus, and Syria retaliated within hours by ordering its envoy back from Baghdad. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, is also expected to attend the meeting in Cairo, Syrian media have reported.
Last week Davutoğlu paid consecutive visits to Baghdad and Damascus in a bid to ease relations between the two neighbors after they withdrew their respective envoys. Following Iraq and Syria, Davutoğlu also visited Egypt, where he had talks with President Hosni Mubarak as well as with his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
Following his participation in the Arab League meeting in Cairo, Davutoğlu is expected to pay visits to Jordan and Iran, diplomatic sources told Today's Zaman on Tuesday. According to a tentative schedule, Davutoğlu will be in Amman on Thursday and Friday and will be visiting Tehran on Saturday and Sunday, the same sources said.
Turkey, a NATO member and a candidate for EU membership, has in recent years focused on boosting its political and economic cooperation with Middle Eastern countries and sought to establish itself as a broker in regional conflicts.
In his capacity as chief foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Davutoğlu had talks with the most controversial political actors, including Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, and was behind the Turkish-brokered mediation between Syria and Israel. Last week, delivering a speech in the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS), Davutoğlu cited maximum security, democracy, zero problem with neighbors and peace diplomacy as the fundamental principles of Turkish foreign policy.
“We have been trying to protect our people's democratic freedom as much as possible. We don't experience problems with our neighbors if we maintain our security. We are trying to resolve the Syria-Iraq dispute. I'm involved in this issue solely as a member of a family living in the same house, not as a mediator,” Davutoğlu said.
