Azernews.Az

ANKARA – Joined by dozens of businessmen, Turkey’s prime minister led trade talks Monday with Iraqi leaders that officials said would be a step toward greater regional stability as the Middle East roils from uprisings and unrest, AP reported.

During his two-day visit to Iraq, Recep Tayyip Erdogan planned to meet one of Shiite Islam's top spiritual leaders to discuss the crackdown on Shiite protesters in the Gulf nation of Bahrain. Erdogan is a Sunni leader whose premiership has greatly expanded Turkey’s regional influence.

He also appealed for more help from Baghdad in combatting Kurdish rebels who seek greater rights in Turkey and operate from safe havens in the north of Iraq. At the top of Erdogan's agenda, however, were business investments, from boosting Iraq's energy supplies launching construction in the war-torn nation.

"Iraq is a brotherly nation," news agency Anatolia quoted Erdogan as saying in Turkish after meeting with his Iraqi counterpart, Nouri al-Maliki. "For years we have felt in our hearts the ordeals and pain, and we have been following the developments since then with admiration."

He said investments and trade between Iraq and Turkey reached $7.5 billion in 2010. "From energy to food, our solidarity will continue," Erdogan said.

Iraqi leaders have worked to soothe relations with Turkey, which for years has battled the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, in one of the world's longest-running conflicts. The PKK is based in northern Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region, which Turkish warplanes have bombed and ground troops have invaded in years past to hunt the fighters.

After their closed-door meeting, al-Maliki said both nations have suffered attacks from "terrorist operations" but are now looking beyond their borders to promote Mideast security.

"Both countries now have more political and security stability, and both will offer as much as we can to solve problems in the region," al-Maliki said.

Reflecting Turkey's rising power and popularity in the Arab world, which cuts across sectarian lines, hard-line Iraqi Shiites welcomed Erdogan's visit — in particular because of his tough positions against Israel.

"We came here to welcome and greet a man of heroic positions — especially his strong positions against Israelis," said Hasan Lazim Jumaa, 42. He was among about 1,000 supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who lined the road leading from the airport into Baghdad, waving Iraqi and Turkish flags as Erdogan drove by.

Erdogan is to meet Tuesday with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani — Iraqi-based Shiism's highest ranking cleric in the Middle East. Political observers in Baghdad believe Sistani may ask Erdogan to act as a mediator in Bahrain, where a Sunni monarchy has cracked down on Shiite-led protesters demanding greater rights and political freedoms.

Turkey, which has served as a mediator in many regional conflicts under Erdogan, is also maintaining contacts with both sides in the fighting between Libyan rebels and Moammar Gadhafi's forces in an attempt to arrange a cease-fire.

Al-Maliki has repeatedly said he fears the unrest in Bahrain could spark sectarian violence around the Middle East — a particularly fearful scenario for Iraq, which is only just recovering from years of deadly Sunni-Shiite battles.

Erdogan's visit was his first since al-Maliki formed a government in December — nine months after parliamentary elections. In a key development Monday, al-Maliki on Monday submitted the names of lawmakers to run the country's defence and interior police ministries.

If parliament confirms Ibrahim Mohammed al-Lami as interior minister and Khalid Mitaab al-Obeidi as the defence chief, Iraq may soon start considering whether to ask U.S. troops to remain beyond a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline, as some lawmakers want.

Scattered violence continues to plague Iraq on a daily basis.

In Baghdad, three bombs exploded a few hours before Erdogan's arrival, killing one person and wounding 13. Three more people were killed in an unsuccessful pair of jewelry store heists in the capital that also left 11 injured. In the northern city of Mosul, a former al-Qaida stronghold, police said unknown gunmen stormed a family home, killing six women and a man in the early hours Monday before escaping.

Ethnic clashes broke out between Kurdish and Turkomen students outside a college in Kirkuk, where competition for power in the oil-rich northern city has simmered for years. Eleven students were injured in the scuffles, which included rock-throwing, said police Brig. Gen. Adel Zein-Alabdin.