Europe

Europe

Turkish FM urges Iran to help stop sectarian divide in MidEast

05 January 2012 23:57 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. In the belief that the volatile Middle East might be headed for a new Cold War era unless a sectarian rift in Iraq is immediately mended, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has urged Iranian officials to cooperate with Turkey in its efforts to stop the Sunni and Shiite sects from clashing in politically-fragile Iraq, APA reports quoting Today’s Zaman.

During his flight to Iran on Wednesday, Davutoglu once more raised the possibility that "certain actors" in the region have sought to recreate the circumstances of the Cold War era, and reinstated Turkey’s call for "overarching policies" for the region.

Recalling Iran’s influential role in the Middle East, Davutoglu emphasized on Thursday that Iraq and Syria are in "urgent need for solidarity." He added that, "Turkey and Iran can contribute to a solution in Iraq and Syria." He signaled that, as the country’s immediate neighbors, much responsibility falls on the shoulders of both Iran and Turkey. "The regional awakening in the Middle East will make us and our relations stronger. We are now laying the foundations of an era that could last a century," Davutoglu drew attention to the power of recent developments to determine the future of the region. He stressed that the "attitudes taken today" will be very crucial.

"States should not base their policies on sectarian and ethnic tensions," Davutoglu told reporters aboard his plane to Tehran, where he held multiple meetings with senior Iranian officials, starting with his counterpart Ali Akbar Salihi, to discuss the current developments in Iran. In a joint press conference on Thursday, Davutoglu reaffirmed Turkey’s faith that Iran will cooperate to ensure stability in the Middle East. Salihi noted that "Turkey and Iran can provide the peace and security needed in the Middle East," the Cihan news agency reported on Thursday. Salihi also repeated that the two countries are the major leaders in the region. "The security in the region is collective; it is inseparable [among countries]. One country’s security is the security of the entire region," Salihi added, reaffirming that Iran is worried about the Arab Spring developments. Davutoglu also likened the tension in Iraq to the tension that has been going on in Syria since early last year. "What is going on in Iraq is releasing signals of sectarian-based tension, much like in Syria," said Davutoglu. He also voiced his concern regarding the Shiite leadership’s moves at the expense of the Sunni bloc, in what he called "a prejudicial purge," and warned that there is a "fault line" that such power struggles will eventually fracture.

In a related development, the head of an influential Shiite bloc in Iraq, Moqtada al-Sadr, asked for a meeting with Davutoglu in Tehran in a surprise move that was not originally on the schedule of the Turkish foreign minister. Sadr’s party backs Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s bloc but last week, following an arrest warrant issued for the capture of the most senior Sunni official of Iraq, Sadr suggested that Iraq could resort to early elections to dodge more conflict. The arrest warrant also encouraged bomb attacks in Baghdad. This has been coupled with pressure caused by the main Sunni bloc’s temporary withdrawal from Parliament in protest of the Shiite grasp for power in Iraq.

In a press meeting on Thursday Davutoglu also affirmed the close partnership between Turkey and Iran, denying claims that the NATO defense shield Turkey permitted in eastern Anatolia was meant to target Iran, a country the US has made no secret that it labels as a threat. "We do not regard any country a threat to us; we confide in Iran and Iran confides in us; the trust is mutual," Davutoglu spoke from Tehran, in a speech broadcast by NTV on Thursday. When Turkey agreed to deploy the early-warning radar system, the country removed from the agreement the clause that mentions Iran since Turkey claims the radar system is meant only for defense, and Iran would not be a target of the system, despite Iranian concerns. "This is for defensive purposes only," Davutoglu said. "We guarantee that this is not a threat to Iran. We would never take any step that could negatively affect our relations with out neighbor," he added.

Davutoglu also discussed in Tehran the developments in Syria, which he stated on Wednesday are worrying to Ankara. Turkey believes that the protests for democracy were met with a bloody challenge by the Syrian state, and the country runs the risk of a sectarian clash.