IRAQI PM SLAMS TURKEY'S "LACK OF RESPECT" OVER REFUSAL TO EXTRADITE VP
PanARMENIAN.Net
May 10, 2012 - 21:22 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki criticised Turkey
on Thursday, May 10 for remarks he said did not show "mutual respect",
in the latest bout of a weeks-long spat between the two neighbours,
AFP reported.
Maliki's comments came as Turkey said it would not extradite fugitive
Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who is accused of running death
squads and is the subject of an Interpol international Red Notice.
"We do not have any problems with Turkey," Maliki told NRT, a Kurdish
satellite channel, according to a statement issued by his office that
included quotes from the yet-to-be broadcast interview.
"We do not want to antagonise Turkey, or Iran, or America, or Saudi
Arabia, or any other country, but what happened and the remarks issued
by Turkey do not show mutual respect."
His remarks come after Iraq and Turkey last month summoned each
other's ambassadors to express their displeasure over a worsening row.
At the time, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused
Maliki, a Shiite, of stoking sectarian tensions between Shiites,
Sunnis and Kurds, and of monopolising power.
Maliki fired back, saying such comments "will damage Turkey's interests
and makes it a hostile state for all."
The Iraqi premier's latest comments came as Turkish deputy prime
minister Bekir Bozdag said on Wednesday that Ankara would not
extradite Hashemi, whose trial in Baghdad is due to begin on May 15
after two delays.
PanARMENIAN.Net
May 10, 2012 - 21:22 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki criticised Turkey
on Thursday, May 10 for remarks he said did not show "mutual respect",
in the latest bout of a weeks-long spat between the two neighbours,
AFP reported.
Maliki's comments came as Turkey said it would not extradite fugitive
Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who is accused of running death
squads and is the subject of an Interpol international Red Notice.
"We do not have any problems with Turkey," Maliki told NRT, a Kurdish
satellite channel, according to a statement issued by his office that
included quotes from the yet-to-be broadcast interview.
"We do not want to antagonise Turkey, or Iran, or America, or Saudi
Arabia, or any other country, but what happened and the remarks issued
by Turkey do not show mutual respect."
His remarks come after Iraq and Turkey last month summoned each
other's ambassadors to express their displeasure over a worsening row.
At the time, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused
Maliki, a Shiite, of stoking sectarian tensions between Shiites,
Sunnis and Kurds, and of monopolising power.
Maliki fired back, saying such comments "will damage Turkey's interests
and makes it a hostile state for all."
The Iraqi premier's latest comments came as Turkish deputy prime
minister Bekir Bozdag said on Wednesday that Ankara would not
extradite Hashemi, whose trial in Baghdad is due to begin on May 15
after two delays.