Turkey’s Foreign Minister ruled out polarization between Turkey and Iran over the political crisis in Iraq, as it emerged that Ankara has sent a warning message to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, through Tehran that the Iraqi prime minister’s confrontational policies would isolate him in the region, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
Speculations that Iran was backing al-Maliki in his conflict with Turkey were not correct, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said. “So far such a polarization has never been an issue, and from now on we won’t let it happen,” Davutoğlu told reporters yesterday in a joint press conference with his counterpart from Cameroon, Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo.
During al-Maliki’s visit to Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi called him twice by phone, Davutoğlu said. Salehi briefed the Turkish minister before and after al-Maliki’s visit to Tehran, Daily News has learned. In the phone conversation, Davutoğlu underscored that al-Maliki’s confrontational attitude would isolate him in the region. Davutoğlu complained about the Iraqi leader’s statement against Ankara which said “Turkey was becoming a hostile country.” Even the Syrian leader has not made such a statement, the Turkish minister told his Iranian counterpart, Hurriyet Daily News learned.
