Foreign Minister Davutoğlu, Kerry discuss Iraq and Cyprus

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The Turkish and American foreign ministers discussed the developments in Iraq and Cyprus over the phone on March 16, nearly 36 hours after their second telephone conversation in two consecutive days.

“As their first conversation took longer than planned, the unaddressed issues of Iraq and Cyprus were left to their later talk, and that took place on March 16,” diplomatic sources told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday. The Kerry-Davutoğlu talk was focused on the developments in Iraq as tension between Iraqi Kurds and the Shiite government has escalated recently. Both countries are concerned that the tension will bring an armed conflict to the already unstable region, which could jeopardize the political and territorial unity of Iraq. In addition, Washington voiced concern about Turkey’s approach to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for accomplishing multi-billion dollar energy deals although the central and regional governments could not settle their disputes over how to share oil revenues. 

The two men have also evaluated the results of the presidential elections in Greek Cyprus and whether a new peace process could be launched.