A+ A-

Allawi meets Turkish PM amid tense relations between Baghdad, Ankara

ANKARA, Aug 2 (KUNA) -- visiting leader of the Iraqia bloc party Ayad Allawi met on Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid rising tensions between Ankara and Baghdad due to what Baghdad has described as interference by Turkey into Iraq's internal affairs.
There was no official statement on the meeting, but Turkish local media said that the two sides discussed Iraq's political dispute and tension between Allawi's party and other Iraqi political parties.
Allawi's visit to Turkey is the second in less than five months, and this visit comes amid very fierce criticism from Iraqi politicians which also criticized Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's visit to Kirkuk city earlier in the day.
Iraqi central government in Baghad considered slammed the visit as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty. (end) mm.mb KUNA 022319 Aug 12NNNN