Turkey 'will keep talking' to Baghdad, Kurdish region

By Duygu Yener and Arife Yildiz Unal

ANKARA

Ankara will continue talks with Baghdad and Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government, Turkey's defense minister said on Friday.

"Turkey has clearly taken up this position from the beginning," Fikri Isik said during his visit to Turkey's state-run air defense and software company HAVELSAN in the capital, Ankara.

Isik said Thursday’s visit by Turkey’s top military officer, Hulusi Akar, to the country’s southeastern border should be evaluated in that context.

In recent months, the presence of Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq has led to a degree of tension between Baghdad and Ankara amid calls by some Iraqi lawmakers for the troops to be withdrawn from the area.

Asked about a reported 10,000-member Shia-Sunni force in the northern Iraqi district of Tal Afar, Isik said Turkey supported their wish to defend their country.

Recalling that Tal Afar is a mostly-Turkmen town, Isik said some of these people were Sunni while others were Shia and added: "Turkey has been pleased that Sunni and Shia Turkmen people are cooperating [against Daesh]."

Isik highlighted Turkey's sensitivity about any possible attempt to change the demographic structure in Tal Afar: "Turkey has always supported, appreciated and respected the right of self-defense of the people in Tal Afar, either Sunni or Shia."

"What is important for us is to maintain the current demographic structure in the area and not to allow the terrorist groups to gain new territories on the pretext of fighting against Daesh," he added.