IRBIL, Iraq
Turkey's Foreign Minister made important contributions to burgeoning relations between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdish administration (IKBY) as a former chief advisor to the Turkish prime minister before his tenure in the cabinet began in 2009, an IKBY government spokesman said Thursday.
"Let us not forget Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's efforts in this regard. He was then an adviser to Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan," Safin Dizayi said at a conference in Ankara. "We met with him on a regular basis and kept close ties. Gradually, relations improved. All the past negativities were left behind."
Noting that Turkey and IKBY were developing bilateral relations, Dizayi added that the current Turkish administration acted as a bridge between Turkey and several other countries in the Middle East region.
Relations between Turkey and IKBY are mainly based on energy, with an oil and gas deal in the works through a tripartite agreement with the Iraqi central government.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
