Iraq–Turkey relations
 |
|
 Turkey |
 Iraq |
|---|---|
Iraqi–Turkish relations are foreign relations between Iraq and Turkey. From late 2011 relations between the two countries have undergone strained turbulence. The two countries share a close historical and cultural heritage.
Turkey has an embassy in Baghdad, and had a consulate general in Mosul until its diplomats were kidnapped by Islamic State, while Iraq has embassies in Ankara and Istanbul. The ambassador of Iraq in Ankara, Turkey, is Mr. Abdul Amir Kamil Abi Tabikh, who is the representative of Iraq since 5 March 2009. The Iraqi mission in Turkey includes a defense attaché and commerce office in Ankara, and a general consulate in Istanbul. The Ambassador of Turkey in Baghdad, Iraq, is Derya Kanbay, who has been in office since 20 January 2007. The Turkish Embassy in Baghdad also possesses a commerce office. The Iraqi cabinet in October 2012 accounced that Turkish forces crossing into Iraq "is a violation of Iraq's sovereignty and security" as Turkish forces used military bases in Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Despite the fact that Turkey-Iraq relations have different epochs in history, the two nations are interconnected by various cultural similarities, since Iraqis, along with Syrians, Lebanese, and Egyptians, have traces of Turkish ancestry owing to the chronology with the Ottoman Empire. In order to clarify the relations between Turkey and Iraq these different stages should be clarified. First of all, these two countries emerged as sovereign countries after the First World War; Iraq became a political unity as a British mandate, and Republic of Turkey became a sovereign country apart from the Ottoman Empire. Although Turkey became an official state in the international arena by the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, the Grand National Assembly in Ankara, founder of modern Turkey, was actually running the government since 1920.
Before World War I, contemporary Iraq was part of the Ottoman Empire. Iraq under Ottoman rule did not have political unity. There were three administrative provinces (vilayet) in current Iraq, organised by Land Law of 1858 and Vilayet Law of 1864 of Ottoman Empire: Basra, Baghdad and Mosul provinces. Political unity of these three provinces came to fruition as a result of World War I and the invasion by the UK of this region.
...
Wikipedia