Turkish leader tries to broker peace between Iraqi election rivals

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met the leaders of two parties running in this week’s Iraqi general election and endorsed their platforms.

Iraqis are to cast their ballots for a new parliament on Sunday.

Mr Erdogan met Iraqi Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Al Halbousi and politician and tycoon Khamis Al Khanjar in Ankara on Sunday, Turkish and Iraqi news reports said.

The officials discussed “the political situation in the region, the importance of economic relations between Iraq and Turkey to support the stability of the Iraqi economy”, Mr Al Khanjar wrote on Twitter.

“We affirmed our strong rejection of the exploitation of Iraq’s borders by terrorist organisations and the targeting of Iraqi and Turkish lands,” he said.

He also asked that Turkey cancel travel visas for Iraqis, except for medical patients, students, businesspeople and humanitarian cases.

Mr Al Khanjar, who has joined the Iran-backed Fatah Alliance, is Mr Al Halbousi’s main rival for votes.

Mr Al Khanjar leads the Azm coalition, while Mr Al Halbousi is the head of Al Takadum Party.

They are competing for a majority of Sunni votes.

Divisions between them have deepened as they have sparred in the build-up to Sunday’s polls.

They come from western Abar province and have for years courted the Sunni constituency.

An Iraqi official said the meeting between Mr Erdogan and the two was an attempt to “bridge the differences” between the Iraqis, but he was not optimistic that it would bear fruit.

“I don’t think that Erdogan will succeed in making amends [between the rivals] during the run-up to the elections. They are not ready to offer concessions before the vote,” he told The National.

“Both parties believe they are stronger than the other and stronger than they really are,” he said.

The official said the steps taken by Mr Erdogan can be seen as a “Turkish intervention” in Iraq’s political process, especially for the Sunni parties.

“Ankara will now hold a new role of backing and attempting to restore the country’s Sunni parties,” he said.

Turkey is leading military operations in the north, where Ankara has been attacking Kurdish rebel hideouts.

Last June, Turkish special forces launched Operation Claw-Tiger, attacking positions thought to be significant for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a group Ankara has fought for decades.