"Islamic State" unites Ankara and Baghdad
By Rufiz Hafizoglu
The ethnic and religious division policy, conducted by Iraq’s
former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, has resulted in minimizing
the Ankara-Baghdad relations.
Haider al-Abadi’s appointing Prime Minister on September 8 after
al-Maliki’s leaving and the formation of the new government was a
chance to restore the Baghdad-Ankara relations.
However, the most important factor for rapprochement between Ankara
and Baghdad is the existence of the "Islamic state" terrorist
organization, which is a great threat to Iraq, Syria and Turkey,
rather than Iraq’s new government or Turkey's desire to be closer
to Iraq.
On Nov.20 2014, the current prime minister of Turkey Ahmet
Davutoglu, who is considered the creator of the modern foreign
policy of the country, made a visit to Baghdad.
The issue of joint fight of Baghdad and Ankara against the "Islamic
state" was discussed at the bilateral meetings, along with
discussion of political and economic relations.
Both senior representatives said that the joint fight against
terrorism is indispensable.
The existence of the "Islamic State" in the region, lack of
significant results in the fight against terrorists and this
organization’s control over one third of the territory of Syria and
a quarter of the territory of Iraq is a serious signal for regional
countries.
Therefore, one can say that this visit, which is considered as the
restoration of diplomatic ties between the two countries, is in
fact the result of a desperate situation.
On the other hand, under the political changes currently taking
place in the region, Turkey and Iraq have been left alone, facing
terrorism.
Today, the presence of the "Islamic State" in the region, inability
of the Syrian government to control the situation, the lack of
relations between Turkey and Iraq, tense relations between Baghdad
and Arbil (the capital of Kurdistan Regional Government) prompt
both Iraq and Turkey to seek allies against the real danger.
But it doesn’t mean that they will be perfect allies. Taking into
account the real situation in Iraq, we can see that the real ally
for Baghdad in the majority of spheres is Tehran, but not Ankara,
while the real ally for Ankara is Arbil, but not Baghdad.