Abi-Tabikh was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Monday by the ministry's undersecretary, Feridun Sinirlioğlu, regarding Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's verbal assault on Turkey for what he characterized as interference in Iraqi affairs, the Anatolia news agency reported. Turkey told Iraq through Abi-Tabikh that “it is natural for Turkey to be interested in the stability of its neighbor.” Turkey believes that respecting the constitutional order and functioning democracy in Iraq are crucial for Iraqi stability, Sinirlioğlu added, indicating that Turkey's approach towards Iraq does not mean interfering in the internal issues of its neighbor.
Over the weekend, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned Turkish Ambassador to Iraq Yunus Demirer to tell him Turkey should refrain from taking actions that will damage its good relations with Iraq. Demirer responded that the referenced remarks by Turkish officials were well intended but that he would deliver the message to Ankara.
The remarks that caused the rift were a result of Turkey's observation that Iraq has been fast becoming polarized along sectarian lines since the US withdrawal. Turkey believes that a divide in Iraq will devastate the entire region as well as damage Turkey's own domestic politics, which serve a number of different ethnic and religious backgrounds but with much less polarization.
When Iraq's strong Shiite bloc, led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, drew its sword against the Sunni bloc through the application of increased pressure against Sunni politicians and attempts to sideline them in Iraqi politics, Turkey reacted harshly to what it believed was the first signs of a sectarian war in Iraq. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke last week in Ankara of his concerns regarding Iraqi polarization after the US pullout, suggesting that the Maliki government needs to take control of the crisis and release its pressure on politicians belonging to other blocs, which Maliki keeps “besieged.” Although Erdoğan did not mention names, he described the experience of top Sunni politician of Iraq Tariq al-Hashemi, who had to flee Baghdad when Maliki allegedly cornered him, sending armed vehicles and tanks to his door, and suggested political rivalries not turn into false accusations and “a fight between brothers.”
Early in December, a day after the last US troops stepped out of Iraqi territory and into Kuwait, Maliki's bloc issued an arrest warrant for Hashemi, the Iraqi vice president, on the grounds that he had run hit squads to assassinate political rivals some five years ago. Hashemi rejected the claims and said they were politically motivated to embarrass him and force him out of Iraqi politics so that more power could be hoarded by the Shiite bloc. When the new Iraqi parliament was formed after a lengthy process of negotiations, a frail balance was kept among blocs and all minorities received representation in the multiethnic, multi-sect government. However, as soon as the buffer of US troops disappeared from of the country, a fight broke out between the Iraqiya party, a mostly Sunni bloc which had won a majority of votes, and Maliki's group, which actually formed the government after it received backing from minor Shiite parties and united them with promises of equal representation for everyone in Iraq.
Iraqiya protested Maliki's bloc when the prime minister refused to share key posts with other blocs, which led Shiite politicians to voice the possibility of an early election in the country to avert an escalation of tensions. Hashemi is currently in Sulaymaniya in the semiautonomous Kurdish zone in northern Iraq and has asked for Turkey's help in thwarting Maliki's politically charged accusations.
Erdoğan had a telephone conversation last week with Maliki, whom he urged to decrease the tensions revolving around Hashemi's case and to keep in frequent contact with US and Iranian officials in order to maintain balance in Iraq.
