During talks with Turkish officials, the Iraqi delegation will draw attention to probable humanitarian and economic damages that a cross-border military operation by Turkey into Iraq would create in the region, Hamwdy said, pukmedia reported on Wednesday. "As we stated earlier, no one should have doubts that we will protect Iraqi soil and our sovereignty, and it is not possible for us to allow any foreign intervention that might to lead to war," he was quoted as saying, in apparent reference to a military operation by Turkey for eliminating the terrorist PKK threat.
Iraq's Ambassador to Turkey Sabah Orman, contacted by Today's Zaman concerning pukmedia's report, said on Wednesday that he had no information regarding an upcoming senior-level visit from Baghdad to Turkey. Nevertheless, he added that a delegation from Iraq's Interior Ministry had last week already conducted talks with their counterparts at the Turkish Interior Ministry as well as with Ambassador Oğuz Çelikkol, Turkey's special envoy to Iraq. The talks were focused on training courses that will be offered by Turkey to Iraq's security forces, Omran added.
Foreign Ministry officials in Ankara were not available to comment on whether there will be such a visit from Baghdad.
The Iraqi official's remarks concerning a visit came after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late on Monday, "The possibility of getting parliamentary approval for an operation is not on our agenda right now."
Erdoğan's statement followed persistent statements from the military chief, Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt, indicating the army's expectation for a political decision to launch a military incursion into northern Iraq. Earlier, government spokespeople and senior members of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on a number of occasions had stated that Parliament could be convened to discuss a possible incursion into northern Iraq before the elections; however, they decided that there is no need for an operation "for now" during a Cabinet meeting on Monday.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül has once more urged both the US and Iraqi administrations to take concrete action against the PKK, while he stressed that "Turkey's eye is not on Iraqi soil."
"Perhaps we attribute importance to Iraq's territorial integrity more than certain Iraqis themselves do," Gül was quoted as saying on Wednesday by NTV.
Since US forces are deployed throughout Iraq, they don't have the luxury of only taking control in places like Baghdad and Basra but not in northern Iraq, where PKK members have found shelter, Gül said. "If they can't control the north of Iraq, then we will take our own measures," he said.
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