Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday of fanning tensions between Iraq's Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds through his "self-centred" ways and behaviour toward coalition partners, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Erdogan made the blunt comments after a meeting in Istanbul with Masoud Barzani, the president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, who has cultivated strong relations with Ankara.
"The developments in Iraq are not good signs, especially the current prime minister's behaviour towards his coalition partners," Erdogan told a news conference, according to the Hurriyet newspaper website.
"His self-centered ways... are seriously disturbing Shi'ite groups, Barzani and Iraqi groups," Erdogan said, adding that he had discussed these issues with the Iraqi Kurdish leader.
Maliki, a Shi'ite, heads a fragile coalition along with Sunni Muslims and Kurds.
During his visit to Istanbul, Barzani had also been expected to meet fugitive Iraqi deputy president Tareq al-Hashemi, who has been accused of running Sunni death squads. The meeting could not be confirmed.
Sectarian tensions flared in Iraq after Maliki's government ordered Hashemi's arrest in December, renewing fears of a return to the bloodletting of 2006-2007.
Turkish PM warns Iraqi PM against stirring sectarian and ethnic tensions
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