Iraqi PM Maliki brands Turkey 'hostile state'

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday slammed accusations by Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki that he sought to inflame sectarian divisions in Iraq, stating his Iraqi counterpart of trying to gain "prestige" in an escalating war of words between the neighbours.
"We don't differentiate between Sunnis or Shiites. Arab, Kurd or Turkmen, they are all our brothers," Erdogan told reporters in comments reported by the NTV news channel.
"If we respond to Mr Maliki, we give him the opportunity to show off there. There is no need to allow him to gain prestige."
Maliki said on Friday that Turkey was becoming a “hostile state” in the region, accusing its premier of interfering in internal Iraqi affairs and of sectarianism.
“The latest statements of (Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip) Erdogan are another return to the process of interfering in Iraqi internal affairs and it confirms that Mr Erdogan is still living the illusion of regional hegemony,” Maliki said in a statement posted on his website.
Maliki was responding to comments made by Erdogan on Thursday in which the Turkish premier accused the Iraqi leader of fanning tensions between the country's Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. Erdogan's comments coincided with similar Saudi and Qatari positions towards Maliki's government. Meanwhile, some leaked reports have suggested that a number of Iraqi parties and coalition will seek to pass a no-confidence motion against Maliki's government, accusing it of hegemony andhaving no intention to share authority with other parties.
“It is regrettable that his statements have a sectarian dimension...insisting on continuing these internal and regional policies will damage Turkey's interests and makes it a hostile state for all,” he said.
Turkey, which is majority Sunni, has been seen as a key ally and even a role model for Iraq, because of its secular constitution and close relations with the West, including membership in NATO.
Iraq is Turkey's second largest trading partner after Germany, with trade reaching $12 billion last year, more than half of which was with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
Baghdad has occasionally accused Ankara of meddling in its affairs since the 2003 US-led invasion. Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria have also been accused of destabilising their neighbour.
The bitter exchange between Maliki and Erdogan came after the Turkish leader met Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish region, who has cultivated close relations with Turkey's government.
Sectarian tensions flared in Iraq recently when the Shiite-led government sought an arrest warrant for Sunni vice president Tareq al-Hashemi on charges he ran death squads.
After closed-door talks on Thursday with Masoud Barzani, the president of the autonomous Kurdistan region in north Iraq, Erdogan stoked further tensions with Iraq by accusing Maliki of taking an “egocentric approach” in politics.
“The current prime minister's treatment toward his coalition partners, his egocentric approach within Iraqi politics... seriously concern Shia groups, Mr Barzani and the Iraqiya group,” the main Sunni-backed political bloc, Erdogan was quoted by local media as saying.
Relations have dimmed between Maliki's government and Ankara since after the parliamentary elections of 2010 in Iraq, as Maliki accused Turkey of supporting the Iraqi List led by Eyad Allawi, one of the main political rivals of Maliki. Since then, the tension has been renewed several times between both governments during the last two years, most recently after the Turkish comments about VP Hashemi's arrest warrant crisis, as Ankara said that "Democracy in Iraq will be negatively affected if doubts between the ruling coalition partners is to turn to hostility".
Erdogan previously has warned that Turkey would not remain silent if a sectarian conflict erupted in Iraq. He is also a vocal critic of erstwhile ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown against a largely Sunni uprising.
Turkey is worried that the violence in Syria and growing tensions in Iraq could lead to a wider conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in the region.
Relations with Iran have also soured over Turkey's opposition toward Tehran's ally Assad.