The President of the Republic Stresses to His Turkish Counterpart the Necessity of Addressing the Water Issue and Ensuring a Fair Share for Iraq

The President of the Republic, Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid, received, today, Monday, at Baghdad Palace, the President of the Turkish Republic, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his accompanying delegation. The President and his Turkish counterpart held bilateral discussions that dealt with strengthening relations between the two countries and mechanisms for developing cooperation in various fields. The need for coordination and joint work was also stressed in order to reach satisfactory solutions to issues related to security, economy, and water, in a way that serves the aspirations of the neighboring Iraqi and Turkish peoples. During the meeting, the two presidents stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to strengthen border security, confronting the challenges of climate and environmental change and the water crisis, and benefiting from Turkish expertise and experiences in this field. They also stressed the necessity of stopping the aggression against Gaza, and supporting the brotherly Palestinian people in achieving their full legitimate rights guaranteed by international legitimacy, and urging the international community to intensify its efforts to increase humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza, and to work to find a final solution to the Palestinian issue to establish security, stability and peace at the regional and international levels. The bilateral meeting also discussed the latest developments in the region, the importance of reducing tensions, stopping the ongoing escalation, and adopting understandings and constructive dialogue in addressing the outstanding issues between the countries of the region. Then, extensive discussions took place between the two sides, where the President of the Republic headed the Iraqi side, which included the Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs, the Minister of Oil, Hayan Abdul Ghani, the Minister of Environment, Nizar Muhammad Saeed, and the head of the Kurdistan Region Representative, Fares Issa, in addition to a number of officials and advisors, while Presi dent Erdogan headed the Turkish side, which included Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya, Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Cir, and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Ibrahim Yumakli, Minister of Trade Omar Polat, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Oraloglu, Head of the National Intelligence Service Ibrahim Kalin, Turkish Ambassador to Iraq Ali Riza, in addition to a number of Turkish officials and advisors. The expanded discussions focused on political, security and economic issues, bilateral relations between the two countries, ways to enhance intra-trade, encourage investment opportunities and the water issue. The President stressed: 'Iraq is looking forward to distinguished relations with its neighbor Turkey at various levels, and it is also keen to establish balanced relations with brotherly and friendly countries that serve mutual inter ests in the historical, economic, commercial and cultural fields,' stressing the importance of adopting dialogue to resolve the outstanding issues and issues between the two countries who have great natural and human resources that must be invested in order to achieve comprehensive development and prosperity. The President highlighted the importance of joint action and coordination to combat terrorism and ensure the common security of the two countries and the region, noting: 'Iraq refuses to let its territory be a launching pad for aggression or threats to neighboring countries, and it also rejects any attack or violation against Iraqi cities,' stressing the necessity of respecting Iraq's sovereignty and national security. The President touched on the water file and the crisis that Iraq is suffering from as a result of the decline in water flows through the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and its impact on all life activities, stressing the necessity of addressing the water file and ensuring a fair share for I raq to meet its needs, benefiting from expertise in managing the water file and building dams, and coordinating and consulting on projects and the facilities being built on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, noting the importance of resuming the work of joint committees and activating the terms of agreements and memorandums of understanding to strengthen ties of friendship and cooperation. He added: "Iraq is keen to complete the development road project that will link the Gulf countries with Europe via Turkey, which will have significant economic revenues and expand trade exchange." In turn, the Turkish President expressed his happiness at visiting Iraq, praising the developments that Iraq is witnessing at various levels. President Erdogan stressed the importance of relations between the two countries and the need to develop them to include various fields, stating: 'Turkey stands alongside Iraq in its war against terrorism and in confronting security, environmental and economic challenges,' noting that the t wo countries have distinguished relations in various fields, which serves joint cooperation and coordination and return the benefit of the Iraqi and Turkish peoples. The Turkish President expressed his country's understanding of Iraq's water needs, and its keenness to cooperate in this field and through joint committees between the two countries, noting: "Iraq is an important center in trade for Turkey, and it is appropriate to develop mechanisms for trade and economic cooperation." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan added: 'The development road project is important for the countries of the region, and for both countries, and Turkey will continue its support for Iraq in order to complete the project as quickly as possible and achieve its economic and development goals for the peoples of the region.' Source: National Iraqi News Agency