60954 It is EVICT MALIKI DAY + THIRTY - EIGHT ( 38 ) or " E - M DAY + 38 "
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Thread: 60954 It is EVICT MALIKI DAY + THIRTY - EIGHT ( 38 ) or " E - M DAY + 38 "


    
  1. #1

    60954 It is EVICT MALIKI DAY + THIRTY - EIGHT ( 38 ) or " E - M DAY + 38 "

    It is EVICT MALIKI DAY + THIRTY - EIGHT ( 38 ) or " E - M DAY + 38 "

    PREVIOUSLY AND CONTINUING

    " ..... despite the superiority of Maliki’s electoral coalition, the competing Shiite forces, the Kurds and the Sunnis, are together able to form a comfortable majority to prevent Maliki from remaining in office. "...................... Maliki likely fears that if he rushes to do business with parties outside the Shiite alliance, his Shiite rivals would do the same and that they may have a better chance to win over the Kurdish and Sunni forces, because there is a general consensus among them to not keep Maliki in power.

    At the same time, the rest of the Shiite groups fear that this consensus is not solid enough to withstand discussing the details, and that going alone to the Kurdish and Sunni forces may put them in a weak bargaining position and make them appear responsible for breaking Shiite unity.

    An important factor here are the choices that the Sunni and Kurdish forces will make. If the Sunnis and Kurds rush to form ethnic and sectarian alliances, then the Shiite alliance may do the same.

    Some are proposing scenarios such as replacing Maliki with another figure from the State of Law Coalition as a compromise to ensure the continuation of the Shiite alliance. Yet, such a solution may come at a later stage, after the favored options by most parties have been exhausted. What is certain now is that a harsh negotiating season will begin as the conflict moves from its electoral aspect into the closed negotiating rooms and deals among the elite. - from al Monitor

    Generally, all are " waiting for the National Alliance to name its candidate, formally , to start negotiate with him. "

    and TODAY,


    MP: The National Alliance has not raised a figure for the post of head the next government so far
    07/06/2014 10:03:00

    BAGHDAD / NINA / The MP, of the Ahrar bloc, Mushriq Naji confirmed that the National Alliance has not been raised a figure for the post of prime minister so far.

    He said in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA / "The National Alliance demanded the State of Law Coalition to submit another alternative for prime minister post," noting that "the candidate for the post of head of government that will emerge from the National Alliance, will be discussed within the National Alliance and when agreed, will be announced to the other blocs.

    Naji stressed the keenness of the Ahrar and the citizen blocs on the unity of the National Alliance, and to be the prime minister from it, but according to the frameworks and set by the National Alliance, and its new bylaw."


    https://www.ninanews.com/English/News...ar95_VQ=HEKMMH

    and

    Hakim's party is expected to "delayed" and confirms the formation of the government: a strong team is more important than a strong person


    Fri Jun 06 2014 19:35 | (Voice of Iraq) - long-Presse / Baghdad

    Predicted the Islamic Supreme Council, headed by Ammar al-Hakim, said Friday, "delayed" to form a government in the absence of survival "focus" on naming the prime minister, and as shown that adherence to the rule of law Bmarchaa Nuri al-Maliki "will be handled within the rules of procedure of the National Alliance," stressed the importance of "a strong team and harmony to achieve success."

    The leader of the Council, Hamid Molh in an interview (range Press), "The topic of determining the prime minister will be within the framework of the National Alliance, a Akef day to write and modify its rules of procedure," explaining that "This is the most important thing in the system."

    He Molh "We are waiting for the completion of the ratification of the Constitutional Court on the names until they are initiating the formation of the largest bloc, which will consist of them as prime minister," noting that "the question of adherence to the rule of law Maliki will be addressed in the framework of the mechanisms to be established by the rules of procedure and we on our part do not make this issue first. "

    He stressed the leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of the importance of "a strong team and not a strong person and harmony we have is required and not just a half-plus-one," pointing out that "these bases are the reasons for success which is what we are trying to achieve nor captures the thinking person theme Prime Minister as some people think" .

    Molh predicted that "the issue of government formation experiencing delays," adding, "But if we to overcome this juncture and was quick to respond to the demand of the people to form a government servant to him, will manage to resolve the matter quickly."

    The Iraqi National Coalition, called in (the third of June 2014), a coalition of state law, to withdraw the nomination of al-Maliki as prime minister, while expressed "surprise at the step," Maliki's coalition, "away from the components of the National Alliance, and before the completion of the draft rules of procedure and mechanisms that define it, confirmed the refusal of the Government of "political majority" and adopt the principle of "participation" strategic option.

    The coalition counted, in the first of June current, that its decisions are set out on the basis of "previous understandings" and not the number of parliamentary seats, which "does not mean increased confiscation of the opinions of others", while between the location of the prime minister "is subject to the admissibility of the others and of national consensus", counting the A number of MPs join other blocs, particularly Sunni Maliki's coalition "does not mean twice the national coalition parties before the influence of the latter," the fact that those people "can not change the positions of the bloc because it is not linked to Bkiedadtha who broke it."

    The coalition united under the leadership of Osama Najafi called, (June 1, 2014), the National Alliance to the selection of a non-Nuri al-Maliki as prime minister, and stressed that "the existence of an agreement with the 12 block to reject the third term of the owners, and as pointed out that the possibility of opting for the opposition in" the event of a Maliki's third term. "

    The Arab bloc announced that, on the first of June 2014, that the deputies joined the coalition forces "representing orientations own and do not represent them," adding that they "do not exceed four deputies" cramming "earn Ministries and positions", as shown that the objective of the coalition, "dismantling" the other blocks and the number of his deputies was "not life-size," which was announced, ruled out "success being interested in personal interests" and not the public interest.

    The national list has denied, in the (May 30, 2014), its accession to the "Union of the national forces," which was announced in (29 May 2014) as a grouping of forces Sunni, as described block the dignity of this formation as a coalition for "Year-Maliki," his mission to collect the seats for the renewal of the mandate Third exchange for positions, confirmed that most effectives in the new union are under pressure Maliki, who owns them "Memoirs of arrest or corrupted files," while governor of Nineveh Ethel Nujaifi some EU members that they are trying not to provoke the wrath of al-Maliki, fearing exposure to prosecution.

    The State of Law coalition, who replaced first parliamentary elections, which took place on the thirtieth of April 2014, by winning 95 seats, seeks to form a majority government policy, while seeking Shi'ite opponents and most notably the Liberal and citizens to form a government of national partnership, with the two sides agreed to activate National Alliance, which will feature nearly 170 deputies with the difference in the shape of the next government and how to choose the president and accepted from the other blocks.

    https://translate.googleusercontent.c...#ixzz33vdNBGAh

    and

    Virtue: no fear on the National Alliance of Liberals and citizen disagreement with the law


    06/07/2014 10:42

    Tomorrow's Press / Baghdad: The head of the Virtue Ammar Tohme in parliament on Saturday, there was no fear for the National Alliance because of the ongoing dispute between the coalition of state law on the one hand and the masses of the citizen and the Liberals on the other hand.

    Tohme said for "tomorrow's Press," "The basic structure of the National Alliance, a deep and significant and can not be easily dismantled, and the elements of the National Alliance are also strong, never give up and do not think of or separation from the National Alliance."

    He added that "what is happening now from the difference between the law and the Liberals and the citizen is the difference in the views and the development of the new strategy for the composition of the government and the issue of taking the prime minister for a third term," he said, adding that "most of the points of contention in the way of a solution."

    Tohme confirmed that "the issue of the dissolution of the National Alliance too far because of the approach of the National Alliance, and future plans are long-term and can not be canceled or forgotten easily."

    The political body of the National Alliance held a meeting the evening of the third of June, stressed the importance of the National Alliance in the political process, and the need for cohesion strength in order to achieve the national goals, and the importance of the media in the truce offer opinions and suggestions.

    https://translate.googleusercontent.c...eSlO8k9NOLvKxA
    Last edited by Mona Lisa; 06-07-2014 at 08:47 PM.



  2. #2

    60955 Liberal: a serious dialogue with the National Coalition for the other blocks to

    Liberal: a serious dialogue with the National Coalition for the other blocks to gather the necessary majority to form a government

    BAGHDAD / newspaper rectitude -

    A member of the Liberal block of quitting, that "our determination to change including the prime minister and the third term comes under the insistence of the people and the religious authority on the need for change where there is dissatisfaction by people from the previous stage and thus it has become inevitable change."

    Zamili added in a press statement, that "the National Coalition has a serious dialogue with other blocs toward collecting the necessary majority to form a government and to agree on a candidate from within the National Coalition, but we want to stay within the tent of the National Alliance."

    He denied Zamili at the same time the rumors about the presence of Iranian pressure toward carrying al-Sadr to agree to Maliki's nomination for a third term, saying that "the Sadrist movement and Muqtada al-Sadr declared his position clearly on this issue is still our position as it is, which means there is no pressure on us from any party ".

    https://alestiqama.com/?cat=1

    https://translate.google.com/translat...ASE7UrDnzEKS1w

  3. #3

    60956 Currency Auctions

    Currency Auctions

    Announcement No. (2690)

    The latest daily currency auction was held in the Central Bank of Iraq on the 7-6-2014 results were as follows:

    Details Notes
    Number of banks 11
    Auction price selling dinar / US$ 1166
    Auction price buying dinar / US$ -----
    Amount sold at auction price (US$) 141,006,000
    Amount purchased at Auction price (US$) -----
    Total offers for buying (US$) 141,006,000
    Total offers for selling (US$) -----

    Exchange rates ( * 1,210 Market Rate on 5 June 2014 / not posted for today )
    Last edited by chattels; 06-07-2014 at 01:40 PM.

  4. #4

    60957 News Today

    Much of the news involves security events today.

    https://www.ninanews.com/English/News_Menu.asp?Zr07_VQ=K

  5. #5

    60958 Turkey announces the departure of the second tanker from Kurdistan to world mar

    SCZIN11: IS IT TRUE? 2nd TANKER OF OIL LEAVES TURKEY..

    Turkey announces the departure of the second tanker from Kurdistan to world markets

    "The first tanker loaded with oil was sold to world markets, and there will be other tankers loaded with oil Kurdish




    BAGHDAD / obelisk: An official at the Turkish Energy Ministry said on Saturday that a second tanker loaded with oil from the Kurdistan region departed from the port of Ceyhan to the world markets.

    The official said in a press statement followed the "obelisk", "The tanker again loaded with oil from the Kurdistan region departed from the Turkish port of Ceyhan to the global markets," he said, adding that "the announcement to leave the tanker II comes despite the contradictory information that has been circulating on the first shipment of oil source of the Kurdistan region through the Turkish port of Ceyhan. "

    The official pointed out that "the first tanker loaded with oil was sold to world markets, and there will be other tankers loaded with oil of the Kurdish".

    And that "Turkey's position is clear and consistent in this regard and we believe that the oil belongs to all Iraqis and that we did not interfere in the sales process, but, according to the information we have obtained, the first shipment of oil, which left the port of Ceyhan last week have been sold already and we will continue to export oil to each transparency. "

    The Moroccan authorities have ordered earlier, the tanker "United for Adrchib" laden with oil getaway from the Kurdistan region to leave its territorial waters.
    Said a senior official in the Captaincy Moroccan ports in a press statement vassal "obelisk" "The tanker did not gear in Mohammedia and left port without unloading oil at the request of the Moroccan authorities."

    She added that "the tanker now exist in international waters, about 34 miles from the Moroccan coast," follow-up "is not for us to say whether they will return to the port, if you obtain the necessary permits Vestrso in the port of Mohammedia Otherwise, they will not dock."

    The Oil Ministry has renewed, last Sunday, warning companies and global markets to buy a load carrier "for the United Adrchib" laden with crude oil extracted from fields in the Kurdistan region.

    Promised the oil ministry said in a statement issued by and got "obelisk" a copy of it, "the tanker to United Adrchib, oil stolen and smuggled across the border illegally and without the consent of the Federal Government and the Ministry of Oil."

    The ministry stressed that "the prosecution will reach any destination or an oil company deal or adopt a marketing campaign that the tanker."

    https://translate.googleusercontent.c...FLx7BnGnpkFHqw


    and

    Morocco expels ship loaded with oil from Kurdistan


    Date Published: Saturday, June 7th, 2014

    It seems that the attempt to the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq's autonomous, like independence in the sale of the first shipment of crude oil have failed for the second time in two weeks after the Moroccan authorities ordered the tanker to leave its territorial waters yesterday. And carried the tanker «United for Adrchib», a symbol of the long-standing dispute between the Iraqi government Federal in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government on the rights of the sale of oil, one million barrels of crude oil from the region on May 22 last heading to Europe and changed direction abruptly twice without unloading its cargo. The official said a large body Captaincy in Moroccan ports that the tanker was prevented from docking in the port of Mohammedia on the Atlantic coast near Casablanca and departed at the request of the Moroccan authorities, and is now in international waters, about 34 nautical miles from the coast of Morocco. She said «we do not have to say whether they would return to port. If you get the necessary permits Vestrso in the port of Mohammedia and otherwise would not dock ». An informed source said that Iraq immediately request to obtain confirmation of the oil company, the Moroccan government and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Energy in Morocco that it will not allow the tanker unloaded its cargo of oil. On the other hand, warned Italy where oil traders face the prospect of legal action if bought Iraqi oil shipments from the Kurdistan region. And sent the Italian Ministry of Industry on Wednesday a message to traders and refiners warning them that the Iraqi government informed the Italian Embassy in Baghdad that Kurdish oil sales that are illegal and may face sanctions from the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO). The letter, obtained by the agency «Reuters» a copy of yesterday «Sumo reserves the right to take legal action against the buyer of such shipments». (Capitals - Reuters)

    https://translate.google.com/translat...3Fid%3D2778012
    Last edited by chattels; 06-07-2014 at 12:04 PM.

  6. #6

    60959 Lights out on Maliki's electricity promises

    Lights out on Maliki's electricity promises

    A week ago, Mohammed Karim bought a small inflatable pool for his three children to ease the scorching heat during power outages. He has a two-year-old toddler who cannot bear the high temperatures at night, so Mohammed stays up late next to him until the power comes back so he can place him under the air conditioner.

    Summary⎙ Print Ali al-Fayyad, deputy head of the Iraqi parliament's Energy Committee, said he's hoping the private sector steps in to ease the electricity crisis that the people have suffered from for decades, especially in the scorching summer months.

    Author Omar al-Jaffal
    Posted June 6, 2014
    Translator(s)Sahar Ghoussoub

    Since the 1990s, Iraq has suffered from a significant shortage in power, after the US military targeted power stations during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991. And the electricity problem worsened after the occupation of Baghdad in April 2003.

    What makes matters worse are the charges of corruption against former Ministers of Electricity Aiham Alsammarae and Karim Wahid, who headed the ministry during different periods following 2003. The two ministers concluded many deals that were supposedly aimed at increasing the production of electricity, but the government discovered that most of the deals were either fake or violated terms and conditions.

    With the increasingly high temperatures in Iraq, which sometimes go above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), Iraqi houses become akin to ovens.

    In the streets of Baghdad, people set up makeshift showers for passers-by to wash up and ease the heat. This has led to the spread of waterborne diseases such as typhoid.

    On July 22, 2013, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Hussain al-Shahristani misled him about electricity production and Iraq’s ability to export energy to neighboring countries in the near future. Maliki admitted during a televised interview that the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity is a “fiasco.”

    In December 2013, Maliki promised to provide power “around the clock,” but this promise has gone unheeded.

    Many people in Baghdad have linked the increased availability of electricity to the April 30 parliamentary elections, stressing that it is an electoral ploy to re-elect Maliki and his bloc, in addition to current Minister of Electricity Abdul Karim Aftan.

    Karim told Al-Monitor: “Politicians are taking advantage of everything to stay in power. A month before the elections, we had electricity 24/7, however, after the elections, the situation has changed.”

    Ali al-Fayyad, deputy head of the Iraqi parliament's Energy Committee, said with a tone of despair, “The issue of electricity has become a dilemma.”

    Fayyad, an MP from Maliki's State of Law Coalition, told Al-Monitor that the committee has faced difficulties in passing the law to privatize a part of the electricity sector. However, “the law was [finally] passed parliament,” he said. “With a little help from the private sector, national companies will be more able to provide electric power.”

    According to Fayyad, the Ministry of Electricity, which did not respond to Al-Monitor’s calls, “has promised to provide power 24 hours a day during the month of June.”

    Any intervention on the part of the private sector will be of great help to put an end to the crisis,” he said.

    https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...#ixzz33wmymCNj

  7. #7

    60960 Indicators of international and domestic weakness confirms the process of devel

    * From a Friend *

    Alnasiri: Indicators of international and domestic weakness confirms the process of development and investment

    6/7/2014 0:00

    Despite the evolution of the banking sector

    BAGHDAD - Hussein al-Tamimi Tgb

    drew competent affairs banking Samir Nasiri that the Iraqi banking sector is the mainstay for the construction of a national economy free strengthens the pillars of the state and pays out about the process of economic growth and stability if the bases in the construction sector strong and solid and based on scientific planning and full of competence and experience and confidence in the national capacity, especially if he can this sector that contributes to the development plans and investment in terms of construction and economic growth.

    loop funding added in an interview for the "morning" that the banks and investment twins go hand in hand to make the process of growth and development on a sustainable basis, especially as the sector Iraqi banking is a vicious financing first and main activities of investment and that the current stage requires Today more than ever, opening the way for banks to work with ease and efficiency to contribute to the support of investment because it is nerve President of the growth and evolution and development. (54) banks and pointed out that the Iraqi banking sector consists Central Bank of Iraq and (54) banks after it was in 2011 (46) banks which ( 6 ) state banks and 48 private banks were distributed to 23 commercial banks and 13 branches of foreign banks and 12 banks Islamists have ranged foreign contributions with private banks Iraqi (10-81) percent.

    weakness contribute Alnasiri between that all the indicators issued by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and the Ministry of Planning and the Central Bank of Iraq confirms the weakness of the contribution of the banking sector in Iraq, the process of development and investment, pointing to the for that matter this reasons many challenges, notably the rent economy depends on its resources on oil, which constitute a contribution according to official statistics for 2012 (54.7 percent) of GDP and up to 90 percent of the resources of the general budget for 2014, so it is all the other economic sectors ranging contribution between (1.3 to 14.5) percent, a modest contributions.

    anisotropic growth and pointed out that the rates of contribution of the banking sector in GDP for 2012 recorded a growth of mixed until he arrived in 2012 to 8 percent, however, this ratio is low compared with the banking sectors It also states that the regional distribution of cash credit granted to a limited economic sectors as well.

    Since the rise of these proportions to the standard rates to contribute to the economic development requires the growth of the banking sector and repaired by bypassing the challenges currently faced by so he worked the CBI in the past (2003 - 2013) on the application of mechanisms of monetary policy prudent for the purpose of achieving monetary stability and reduce inflation and building a cash reserve foreigner arrived 80 billion and $ 90 tons of gold. exchange rate has increased, saying it is a cover to maintain the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar compared with foreign currencies, especially the U.S. dollar, and during the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 had an important role to play and a key to install policies above and in particularly in the area of supervision and control on the Iraqi banking sector and guidance trends that achieve the goals central in economic construction and lay the foundations and the foundations of the transition to a market economy as referred to in Article 25 of the Constitution of Iraq permanent.

    evolution of assets where there has been during the period (2003-2014) the development of a clear the results of the activity of the banking operations, according to official data issued by the Central Bank of Iraq for the years (2011 - 2012), where developed assets of the banking sector increased by 33 percent and capital increased by 47.5 percent and cash credit granted to 60 percent and deposits 28 percent.

    Preliminary data also indicates private banks Iraqi in 2013 to achieve an important development in the profitability ratio (10-36) percent in the Return on Assets (4-10) percent and employ money (investments + cash credit) / deposits (40-158) percent and the liquidity ratio (50-310) percent and the proportion of Leverage (capital / deposits) (125-479) percent.

    https://www.alsabaah.iq/ArticleShow.aspx?ID=72195

  8. #8

    60961 Iraqi entrepreneurs strike it rich reselling goods on Facebook

    Iraqi entrepreneurs strike it rich reselling goods on Facebook

    After the rise in Iraq's per capita income, Iraqi families are now looking for products other than those available in the local market, which are often imported from China, Turkey and Iran. Due to the country's security situation, most American and European companies do not have branches in Iraq. Added to this is the bureaucracy in state institutions that obstructs companies from obtaining the necessary approvals to open branches.

    Ahmed, who founded a small shop in Baghdad to deliver the goods, said, “To import the goods at the best price, we buy them through the United States, where shipping is free. The products are subsequently sent to Dubai and then Erbil, then down to Baghdad by road. … This process consumes a lot of time but saves a lot of money. Otherwise, buying the simplest things would have been almost impossible.”

    Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...#ixzz33wvnZnW1

    Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...#ixzz33wvSNDDi

  9. #9

    60962 Iraqi entrepreneurs strike it rich reselling goods on Facebook

    SCZIN11: INTERESTING.. AN ONLINE BUYER OF INT"L PRODUCTS for IRAQI's



    Iraqi youths use computers at an internet cafe in Sadr City in Baghdad, May 3, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah)


    Iraqi entrepreneurs strike it rich reselling goods on Facebook

    After the rise in Iraq's
    per capita income, Iraqi families are now looking for products other than those available in the local market, which are often imported from China, Turkey and Iran. Due to the country's security situation, most American and European companies do not have branches in Iraq. Added to this is the bureaucracy in state institutions that obstructs companies from obtaining the necessary approvals to open branches.

    Summary
    Iraqi entrepreneurs have launched Facebook pages selling US and European products to Iraqis, who usually do not have access to international goods.

    Author
    Omar al-Jaffal
    Posted June 6, 2014
    Translator(s)Sami-Joe Abboud

    fixed standards at the Iraqi customs office. Thus, the customs officer is the one who determines our profit, depending on his mood. … Some of the products are stolen when passing through customs, which prompts me to buy the product again and pay for it myself in order to secure it for the customers, who get upset due to the delay.”

    https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/06/iraq-facebook-stores-global-products.html


  10. #10

    60963 Turkey's lost influence in Iraq

    Turkey's lost influence in Iraq

    Turkey's bid to throw its lot into a controversial oil deal with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has so far proven to be a losing hand in Iraq.

    Summary
    Ankara's tilt toward the Kurdistan Region has undermined its once considerable influence in Iraq.

    Author Semih Idiz
    Posted June 6, 2014

    Al-Monitor's Denise Natali indicated in her May 29 article that the move shows the extent to which Ankara and the KRG are willing to defy Baghdad.

    In a further sign of that defiance, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told the Iraqi Kurdish Parliament in Erbil this week that a 50-year energy accord had been signed with Turkey.

    Baghdad considers Turkey’s complicity in the still-murky deal, which will likely be challenged in international arbitration, as contributing to Iraq’s political crisis, and has lodged a complaint against Turkey with the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce.

    Washington also continues to oppose this cooperation between Turkey and the KRG.

    Turkey, however, denies that its energy ties with the KRG — which it maintains are in accord with the Iraqi constitution — are contributing to the division of Iraq. Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz says that Turkey is “a neighbor, friend and fraternal country that is laying the basis for the transmission of Iraqi oil to world markets.”

    Baghdad, however insists that the KRG does not have the right to explore and exploit the country's oil independently, and government officials contacted by Al-Monitor believe this application will take a long time to process and go nowhere.

    Some industry analysts agree, and argue that Turkey and the KRG are likely banking on that the reality on the ground will trump any protracted legal challenge.

    Turkey’s “all-in” approach with the Kurds are a setback to what was a fledgling and ill-fated effort to reset acrimonious Baghdad-Ankara ties during the October 2013 visit of Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari to Ankara for talks, and followed up by a visit to Baghdad by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu the next month.

    In Iraq, Davutoglu also visited the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, and met with religious leaders in an effort to reach out to Iraqi Shiites, who have been unhappy over what they see as Ankara's sectarian policies favoring the Sunnis.

    Davutoglu also announced in Iraq that a decision had been made to resume the stalled meetings of the "High Level Strategic Cooperation Council" set up between Turkey and Iraq in 2009. He added that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would visit Ankara in December, or January 2014. A return visit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Baghdad shortly after was also planned.

    These announcements were taken by diplomats in Ankara as indications that Turkey was set to chart a new course with Iraq. Hopes were also raised that Turkey would mediate between Baghdad and Erbil over their energy dispute.

    Over seven months have elapsed since Davutoglu visited Baghdad and there is no sign yet as to when the high-level contacts mentioned by him will take place. Maliki is trying, of course, to establish his new government following the elections in April, but there are no indications that he will be arriving in Ankara anytime soon, even if he forms his new government.

    All of this is a far cry from the heady days prior to 2010 when ties between the two countries appeared firm and when Ankara had considerable influence in Baghdad.

    Erdogan, accompanied by most of his cabinet, had traveled to the Iraqi capital in October 2009 for the first meeting of the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council, during which no less than 48 documents were signed covering cooperation in fields ranging from energy and security to health and agriculture.

    Official US cables leaked by WikiLeaks to various newspapers also indicated that Turkey was considered by Washington at the time as having forged one of the best relationships with the Iraqi government, and was also playing an important role in helping negotiate the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

    In the meantime, Turkey's influence in persuading the Sunni minority in Iraq, which lost its privileged position after the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003, not to boycott the political process but partake in it, also stood in good stead with both the Iraqi government and Washington.

    Ironically, one of Ankara's main objectives at the time was to curb the political aspirations of Iraqi Kurds and prevent Northern Iraq from gaining an autonomous status, in the fear that this would encourage Turkey's own restive Kurds.

    In 2009, Iraqi Kurdish politicians accused Murat Ozcelik, Turkey's ambassador to Baghdad, of interfering in Iraq's internal politics by trying to influence the drafting of the country's new electoral law in line with Ankara's desires. In retrospect, adding to the irony was that Turkish politicians were accusing the United States then of conspiring to establish an independent Kurdistan adjoining Turkey.

    The tables have turned today and Turkey is openly siding with the KRG against Baghdad, much to Washington's consternation. The first signs of a souring of relations between Ankara and Baghdad emerged with the 2010 parliamentary elections in Iraq, when Shiite politicians also started complaining about Turkish meddling in Iraqi politics.

    Ankara at that time favored the Iraqi National Movement, or "al-Iraqiya," led by Ayad Allawi, the prominent secular political activist and a former interim prime minister. In December 2010, The New York Times cited a cable by Christopher R. Hill, the US ambassador to Baghdad, leaked to the press by WikiLeaks, in which ambassador Ozcelik was said to have opposed Maliki's re-election.

    According to Hill, the Turkish ambassador told US diplomats that that if Maliki were re-elected he "would focus on increasing his own power and would not be cooperative in resolving outstanding issues." The Iraqi elections, however, failed to provide the results Ankara desired and Turkey emerged as one of the main losers.

    Meanwhile the Erdogan government's stance prior to the elections was noted by the Maliki government. The Syrian crisis which broke out shortly after in 2011, on the other hand, sharpened the sectarian sensitivities between Ankara and Baghdad.

    Relations worsened after Turkey gave refuge to Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, a prominent Sunni politician, who was accused in 2011 of setting up anti-Shiite death squads and later sentenced to death in absentia by a court in Baghdad.

    The subsequent rapid developments in Turkish-KRG ties, especially in the strategic energy field, merely contributed to worsening what were already tense ties between the Erdogan and Maliki government.

    This situation continued until the attempt to break the ice in October and November 2013, which was also prompted by shared concerns over the escalating chaos in Syria.

    That attempt, however, has turned out to be more of an uphill struggle than initially thought.

    Meanwhile, Ankara and Erbil appear determine to forge on with their ties despite objections from Baghdad and Washington. Harith Hasan indicates in his May 30 article for Al-Monitor that the KRG risks isolation in Iraq by exporting oil through Turkey.

    It is clear that developing ties with Turkey is not endearing Kurds to their Arab neighbors. Whether this is of any immediate concern to the Iraqi Kurds, however, is questionable. Their region, after all, is the only one in Iraq that appears to be going anywhere.

    “Kurdistan represents everything that has not happened in Shiite-dominated Baghdad and the Sunni regions of Iraq, where Prime Minister Nouri Kamal al-Maliki has behaved like a visionless, pro-Shiite sectarian chief and violence remains rife,” Thomas Friedman of The New York Times wrote on June 4.

    Turkish officials appear to be banking the expectation that Washington will ultimately do little, other than stating its dissatisfaction over developing Turkish-KRG ties, given the stability in Northern Iraq where some leading US oil companies are also doing business. The United States will close its markets to direct Kurdish oil sales, of course, but Kurdish officials appear confident that there are other markets they can access.

    Meanwhile, Turkish government officials were not concerned over a motion submitted by the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) this week for a parliamentary inquiry over Ankara's decision to allow the shipment of Kurdish oil to world markets through Turkey. The motion is destined to be rejected by government deputies who hold the majority in parliament.

    The bottom line appears to be that Turkish-Iraqi ties will remain in the doldrums for now given this background, at least until such time as Baghdad and Erbil come to a common understanding over their energy resources.

    https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/orig...#ixzz33wxKEQBC

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