He also stated, in reference to fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo, "I believe the Assad regime draws to its end with each passing day" and criticized Iran's support, which is to say its recognition, of the Syrian government. Iran is the inevitable secondary target of actions directed by Turkey and its NATO and Persian Gulf Arab allies against Syria and will be struck through Iraq also.
In the same interview the Turkish head of state identified a third target: Iraq. He condemned the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, declaring it illegitimate and urging it be overthrown. In what portends confrontation and possible conflict with Iran and Syria as well by exploiting the PKK issue, he added:
"Even though we should be countries that share the same values, for us to be in such rigor [conflict?] only makes the terrorist organization more powerful. This leads us to approach each other with suspicion."
In the process he criticized Iran as well:
"It is not possible to accept Iran's stance [of supporting the Iraqi government]. We conveyed this to them at the highest level of talks. We said to them, 'Look, this has been a source of disturbance in the region.'"
His comments occurred after the Iraqi government criticized the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to the cities of Kirkuk and Irbil in the Kurdistan Regional Government-controlled north of Iraq in part to secure oil and natural gas deals with the regime of Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish autonomous region. Irbil is the region's capital, but Kirkuk is claimed by Iraq's central government too. Davutoglu's trip to Kirkuk was the first by a Turkish foreign minister since 1937.
On August 7 Hurriyet Daily News columnist Murat Yetkin offered this perspective on the matter:
"Because Iraq [is] at risk of falling apart. Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north of the country, which borders Turkey, has started to sign oil and gas deals with energy giants despite the objection of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, who refuses to approve a hydrocarbons law to regulate the sharing of oil and gas income. The energy giants have an interest in supplying more oil and gas that is not controlled or is less controlled by Russia and Iran to Western markets; Turkey provides an option under NATO protection for both Iraqi Kurdish and Azeri resources to be transferred further west. The presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the KRG region and its armed campaign is, of course, a pain in the neck and a big obstacle to greater cooperation..."
On July 26 the same commentator claimed that "There are already political and economic actors trying to push Turkey to claim some energy-rich parts of Iraq and Syria, which would mean a regime change such as a federated Turkey, with Kurdish and possibly Arabic members," which, he conceded, "could drag the whole region into a chain reaction of wars."
Part of Turkey's justification for involvement in northern Iraq, and another pretext for potential military intervention, is the protection of their ethnic kin, the Turkmen, in the country.
However, since the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq in 2003 the true indigenous people of the north, the Assyrians, have been decimated by attacks from Barzani's peshmergas and Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists without Turkey, or the West, being in the least degree concerned. Eight years ago there were an estimated 1.5 million Assyrian and other Christians in Iraq; now there under 500,000. Churches have been destroyed and in 2008 the Chaldean Catholic Archeparch of Mosul, Archbishop Mar Paulos Faraj Rahho, was kidnapped and murdered in the northern Iraqi city where he resided. Other religious minorities - Mandeans, Sabeans and Yezidis - have suffered the same fate. Shiites are regularly targeted by Wahhabi death squads.
The Barzani domain in the north has become a Turkish foothold inside the country, which has aided Ankara by preventing the PKK from operating on its territory and suppressing its sympathizers. It is also a dependable Sunni ally for Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies in efforts to weaken the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. The al-Maliki administration condemned last week's visit by the Turkish foreign minister to the Kurdish-dominated north as a violation of Iraq's constitution and national sovereignty as Davutoglu had neither requested nor obtained permission to enter Kirkuk.
Iraq's Foreign Ministry handed the Turkish chargà � d'affaires in Baghdad a harshly-worded statement and the Turkish Foreign Minister in response summoned the Iraqi ambassador to lodge a protest.
With Turkish threats against Iraq and Syria, and by inevitable implication Iran, mounting, on August 6 the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Seyed Hassan Firuzabadi, warned that:
"Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey are responsible for blood being shed on Syrian soil.
"This is not an appropriate precedent, that neighboring countries of Syria contribute to the belligerent purposes of...the United States. If these countries have accepted such a precedent, they must be aware that after Syria, it will be the turn of Turkey and other countries.
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