Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari headed a high-level delegation to the Turkish capital Ankara on Saturday where they met Turkey’s Minister of Trade and Customs Bulent Tufenkci and other Turkish officials from business, education and energy sectors.
Minister Jaafari told Turkish officials at the meeting that his country was now in need to rebuilding itself after its war with ISIS.
“Iraq possesses the elements needed for standing up because it’s rich with natural resources but it has faced exceptional circumstances such as a war with ISIS and a decline in oil prices,” Jaafari was quoted by the foreign ministry as saying.
Among topics discussed at the meeting was cooperation in the health, infrastructure, education, tourism, and technology sectors.
“Iraq seeks international support for reconstruction and their economic investment,” Jaafari said, according to the foreign ministry.
In a tweet, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that he and his Iraqi counterpart had discussed “cooperation between both countries in combating terrorism and participation in Iraq’s reconstruction and we promised to offer $5 billion.”
Cavusolgu’s tweet added that Turkey would try to open a second border crossing with Iraq to strengthen trade ties.
Relations between Turkey and Iraq soured in early 2016 when Turkish troops crossed the border and built a base at Bashiqa near Mosul, which is still a concern for Iraqi leaders.
“The minister demanded the Turkish side to withdraw their troops from Iraqi territories,” Jaafari was quoted in a foreign ministry statement as saying. “And he reaffirmed Iraq’s commitment to helping regional countries in overcoming their crisis and sticking to good neighborly relations and not tolerating anyone trying to use Iraqi territories to destabilize neighboring or regional countries.”
According to the Iraqi foreign ministry, Turkish companies make up half of all foreign companies operating in Iraq.
According to the statement, the Turkish minister of trade and customs Tufenkci had promised to work on expanding the Ibrahim Khalil border gate and opening a second one at Fish Khabur for increasing trade.
Turkish officials had also promised to cooperate with Iraq in the higher education sector and to increase the number of seats for Iraqi students in Turkish universities.
