Washington Times: Iraqi PM opposed to Istanbul meeting
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri el Maliki has said that he is opposed to the US-backed plan for an international conference of foreign ministers from countries with links to Iraq to be held in Istanbul.
The proposed Istanbul conference has been talked about many times in past weeks by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but according to a Washtington Times article written by Jim Hoagland, Maliki is blocking plans to hold such a meeting in Istanbul, pushing instead for a Baghdad meeting. Hoagland quotes a high-level Iraqi official as follows on the matter:
"Why should we go to a conference where European and Arab countries which have been against Iraqi freedom from the very start will descend on us? Why is this meeting being held in a country which threatens Iraq, rather than trying to help Iraq?" Hoagland also noted in his article that the Turkish Armed Forces were waiting ready to enter Northern Iraq to either struggle against the PKK, or intervene in Kirkuk.