BAGHDAD
Iraqi Parliament Speaker Usama Nujayfi has said that continuous contacts and meetings were necessary for removal of the deficiencies in Turkey-Iraq relations.
Nujayfi, who spoke to AA on Tuesday, stressed the importance of relations between Turkey and Iraq which were two leading countries in the region.
Relations should be based on common interests, mutual understanding and balance, he added.
Noting that the political situation in Iraq was very bad, Nujayfi said that Iraq had been passing through one of its most problematic periods.
He added that Iraq could not bear such a tense political atmosphere which was negatively affecting the services in the country.
Recently Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said "Turkey was becoming an enemy state in the region in a sign of growing tensions between Turkey and Iraq" and "Turkey had started to intervene in Iraqi internal affairs".
In return, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned against the latest situation in Iraq and signaled a troubling trend in the war-torn country under the current prime minister. Erdogan blamed al-Maliki for excluding Sunnis from power structures.
Premier Erdogan said the behaviors of the current Iraqi prime minister to his coalition partners and his egoist and challenging approaches to the structuring in Iraq were making Shiite groups, Masoud Barzani and Al-Iraqiya group uneasy.
On Monday, Iraq's Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi said that Prime Minister Erdogan had warned against the latest situation in Iraq, stating that it was natural for Turkey to be concerned over what has happened in Iraq.
Prime Minister Erdogan's statement should not be considered an interference in domestic affairs of Iraq, he said.
Meanwhile, Nujayfi said that he would visit Turkey in the beginning of May to attend a conference on "Investment in Mosul" which would be participated by many parliamentarians and officials from Baghdad and Mosul.
(Reporting by Nazmi Akyol)
