( IHA ) - Speaking to IHA in Washington on Friday, Ali al-Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, stated Iraq had good relations with Turkey, which he dubbed "an important partner."
"I think that we maintain good relations with Turkey. Turkey is a very important partner for us in Iraq. We do need good relations, we feel that Turkey is a very important country in the region. They could participate in the stability and the security of the region. Definitely, in Iraq, we have same interest, same will. We do appreciate all the Turkish support for the political process and we do need to take a joint effort, joint steps in order to protect both countries. I think all the security problem comes through the regional arrangement and through bilateral arrangement between all the countries in the region," he said.
The Turkish government's recent decision to permit its army to carry out an incursion into northern Iraq to hunt down separatist PKK militants believed to be holed up there has alarmed the Iraqi government fearing destabilization in the relatively calm northern Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has assured the Turkish government that Iraq was committed to preventing militants' activities in Iraq.