Turkish FM slams Maliki

CAIRO

Turkish FM Davutoğlu says the pain of Iraqis are the pain of Turkey. AA photo

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu slammed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Feb. 4, saying he was “trying to cover up his failure.”

Speaking to reporters in Cairo, where he is attending the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Davutoğlu said, “The pain of an Iraqi brother or sister is the pain of Turkey.”

Al-Maliki, in a recent interview, accused Turkey of meddling in Iraq’s internal problems and staging conspiracies.

“No one can get between our Iraqi brothers and us,” the minister said. “Turkey has never discriminated between Sunnis, Shiites, Turkmens, Arabs or Kurds. The people of Iraq are aware of this. Prime Minister al-Maliki should not make efforts to create an agenda to cover up his failure. We advise al-Maliki to know the value of Turkey’s friendship. We hope that al-Maliki will make statements based on good sense.”
Baghdad and Ankara have been at odds, especially after Iraq warned Turkey last year not to pursue economic ties with semi-autonomous northern Iraq.