InfoAnda - Spat with Iraq bares Turk plunge into regional power game |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Japan eyes naval refueling for anti-piracy mission | 27 October 2009
U.S. servicemen arrested in Okinawa for alleged rape | | 17 October 2012
Afghanistan poised to announce election results | 23 November 2010

Minimum and maximum temperatures in Celsius | 4 January 2011

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Spat with Iraq bares Turk plunge into regional power game |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Frederick Kempe Christopher Papagianis Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (2) Full Focus Editor's Choice Our best photos from the last 24 hours. See more Images of April Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Iran attack decision nears, Israeli elite locks down 17 May 2012 South Carolina woman battles flesh-eating bacterial disease 17 May 2012 Facebook fizzles in debut, shares skirt IPO price 12:03pm EDT Shorting Facebook on first day: Tough even for the gutsiest | 11:39am EDT Insight: Who got Facebook IPO shares? Fairness may not come into it 12:33am EDT Discussed 158 Germany’s Merkel dealt heavy blow in state vote 135 Iran attack decision nears, Israeli elite locks down 115 Weary warriors favor Obama Watched A look at the UK’s most beautiful face Thu, May 10 2012 Surfer rides 78-foot wave to world record Fri, May 11 2012 Violence rages on in Syria Thu, May 17 2012 Pictures Reuters Photojournalism Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption Transgendered beauty Transgendered contestant Jenna Talackova takes part in Miss Universe Canada. Slideshow Strange and unusual Our photographers sometimes capture moments that are strange and offbeat. Here's a recent sampling. Slideshow Spat with Iraq bares Turk plunge into regional power game Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Iran may seek "tactical gain" with U.N. nuclear deal 11:23am EDT Exclusive: Iran flouts U.N. sanctions, sends arms to Syria: panel Thu, May 17 2012 U.N. and Iran agree to keep talking on nuclear Tue, May 15 2012 Rebels kill 23 Syrian soldiers, opposition snubs Arab talks Mon, May 14 2012 Gulf Arabs delay talk of union at Riyadh meeting Mon, May 14 2012 Analysis & Opinion Now is the time to not only maintain pressure on Iran, but increase it Building a new future for Turkey Related Topics World » Turkey » Iraq » A Turkish soldier secures a road overlooking the mountains during patrol in the southeastern Turkish province of Sirnak, bordering Iraq, February 27, 2008. Credit: Reuters/Fatih Saribas By Jonathon Burch ANKARA | Fri May 18, 2012 10:56am EDT ANKARA (Reuters) - A bitter rift with Iraq has exposed Turkey's role in a wider Middle East power struggle, with Ankara acting to protect its stability and prosperity from an Iranian-Iraqi "Shi'ite axis" it fears in the wake of the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq. Turkey, a Sunni Muslim but secular regional power bordering Iraq, Iran and Syria, long tried to play regional mediator as Shi'ite Muslim giant Iran and Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia jostled for sway in a region now undergoing political upheaval. But the fall-out wrought by Arab Spring uprisings and the U.S. exit from Iraq have forced Turkey to make tricky adjustments by cutting old alliances and forming new ones, jettisoning its "zero problems with the neighbors" policy. That shift, coupled with a more aggressive diplomacy personified by an increasingly combative Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan - has thrust Turkey into a regional strategic game pitting Gulf Arab states and Ankara against Iran. "What is really critical is the American withdrawal from Iraq, because that basically made Iraq a much more open playing field for the Iranians," said Soli Ozel, a prominent Turkish academic and commentator. "Inexorably, perhaps unwillingly, Turkey began to find itself a part of the sectarian games as opposed to the position that it very delicately tried to preserve which was being above sectarianism." Turkish officials have been waging a war of words with Baghdad since December when Shi'ite Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, based on allegations that he ran death squads. The row is symptomatic of Turkish anxiety that the country's rising "soft power", based on a booming economy and relative democratic stability ushered in by Erdogan after a long era of military coups, could be threatened by a nascent "Shi'ite axis" embodied by Iran and Maliki's Tehran-backed Baghdad government. "This is about an escalating power struggle in Baghdad combined with the regional conflict between Iran, Turkey and the Gulf Arab states being played out in Syria and Iraq," said Hasan Turunc, a fellow at Oxford University. Gulf Arabs and Turkey alike want to see a street uprising and insurgency in Syria unseat President Bashar al-Assad to help roll back the regional clout of his close ally, Iran and prevent any spillover of its increasingly sectarian bloodshed. MUTUAL RECRIMINATIONS Turkey accuses Maliki of sowing sectarian discord by trying to sideline his Sunni rivals - Maliki also called on parliament to remove his Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq - and has warned of a regional Shi'ite-Sunni "cold war". Maliki says it is Ankara that is stirring sectarian tension, calling Turkey a "hostile nation" meddling in Iraq's internal affairs. Erdogan and Maliki have exchanged public insults and both countries have summoned each other's top diplomats over the past few months in tit-for-tat maneuvers. Compounding tension, Turkish leaders have met publicly with Hashemi, now sheltering in Istanbul after fleeing Iraq in December. Interpol is seeking the arrest of Hashemi, who is being tried in absentia in Iraq. Hashemi denies the charges. Ankara's aversion to Maliki is not new. For years, Turkey cultivated close links with Sunni groups in Iraq and it supported the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc against Maliki in the 2010 parliamentary election. "Even before the last U.S. soldier was beyond the borders Maliki ordered the arrest of Hashemi, and Turkey took a very strong position. Turkey never really liked Maliki," said Ozel. Turkey, anxious to protect trade interests in Iraq amid fears that any renewed Iraqi sectarian war could wash over its borders, long strived to encourage a precarious balance between Iraq's Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish factions. This was no better exemplified than by Erdogan's trip to Iraq in March 2011 when he made sure to visit all three centers of power: Baghdad, the Shi'ite stronghold of Najaf, and Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in the north. But that balancing act, analysts say, ended after the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq at the end of last year. Turkey has since publicly received the president of the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, Masoud Barzani, and Maliki's rival and Iraqiya leader, Ayad Allawi. For its part, Iran has seen Turkey's shift in orientation in towards its own backyard, a region it once deemed "backward", as a more potent challenge to its aspirations to Middle East predominance than the old, purely pro-Europe Turkey. As with Iraq, Turkey has traditionally tried to mediate over Iran, particularly Tehran's controversial nuclear ambitions. TURKEY FALLS OUT WITH IRAN But friction between Turkey and Iran has mounted over their backing of opposing sides in Syria's conflagration and Ankara's assent to housing part of a NATO missile defense shield that the United States says is directed against the Islamic Republic. Some Iranian officials also objected to Turkey playing host to a revival of talks between the six global powers and Iran to head off confrontation over its shadowy nuclear program. The talks between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States did go ahead in Istanbul in April but not before Erdogan lashed out at Tehran, saying the Iranians "lacked honesty" and were "losing their international prestige". Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and now chairman of the Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies think-tank, said Erdogan's increasingly strident approach was aggravating strains in ties between Ankara and its neighbors. "It is his posturing that has led to crises with our neighbors. If he hadn't approached matters in a polarising, black-and-white fashion, we wouldn't have lost the ability to manage these relationships," Ulgen said. "Instead of being the last person to intervene, very often he is the first to react. What he says then becomes policy, and limits Turkey's room for maneuver; it corners us and policy becomes ossified." PRECARIOUS KURDISH RELATIONS One entity that has profited from this regional power tussle is the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Once branded a "bandit" by Turkey, Barzani has been wooed by Erdogan for the purpose of close relations as Ankara has sought out new allies in a transforming region. Barzani needs the support of a powerful neighbor that can act as a conduit for its oil supplies. In turn, Turkey is relying on Barzani to clamp down on the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is waging a separatist insurgency in Turkey and whose leadership is based in northern Iraq. Visiting Turkey last month, Barzani called on the PKK to disarm and said he would not allow any militant group to operate freely in northern Iraq. However, analysts say he is unlikely to bring about any concrete change because of PKK sympathies among many of Barzani's supporters. Despite strained relations with the Baghdad government, trade with Iraq is booming. Turkey sold more than $8 billion of goods to Iraq last year, making it Turkey's second biggest export market after Germany. According to Turkey's finance minister, about 70 percent of exports to Iraq are to the north. While some observers say Turkey could stand to lose some state-funded projects in Iraq as relations sour, it is unlikely that trade between Turkey and Iraq will suffer in the long-term. "Compare it to Turkey's relations with Israel. Turkey and Israel are at odds and there is a lot of public outrage in both countries, however, if you look at economic relations, they are growing," said Oxford University's Turunc. "Trade and commerce do not necessarily get influenced by the daily political rhetoric and the same can be said for Iraq." (Additional reporting by Simon Cameron-Moore in Istanbul; Editing by Mark Heinrich) World Turkey Iraq Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (2) Ocala123456789 wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Friday, 18 May 2012
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Russia says action on Syria, Iran may go nuclear |
Qaeda chief urges Saudis to topple ruling family |
Russian police detain protest leader, five others |
US to suspend Myanmar sanctions, but keep laws on books |
Iran threatens to sue Google over dropping Persian Gulf |
West African troops start arriving in Guinea-Bissau |
Facebook prices at top of range in landmark IPO |
Iran threatens to sue Google over dropping Persian Gulf |
Apple to use only green power for main data center |
HP mulls cutting at least 25,000 jobs: sources |
Insight: Who got Facebook shares? Fairness may not come into it |
Apple to use only green power for main data center |
AT&T eyes lower subsidies, shared data plans |
Facebook's Saverin fires back at tax-dodge critics |
Disco queen Donna Summer dies at 63 |
And the winner is? The sitcom, as networks add new shows |
Peter Berg discusses bringing Battleship to film |
Contestants? It's TV talent judges basking in fame, cash |
Second Travolta accuser drops suit, hires celebrity attorney |
Adele notches up two Ivor Novello songwriting awards |
Cannes festival opens with quirky comedy and a camel |
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
G8 leaders look to head off euro zone crisis |
China bars blind dissident's family choice of lawyers |
Poll shows Greece electing pro-bailout government |
Former editor says Murdoch sowed seeds of hacking scandal |
Retired officials urge China's ruling party to come clean |
Syria's Assad: Nations that sow chaos will suffer |
Slovenian austerity drive threatened by referendum call |
Resource-rich Mongolia plays populist card in run-up to polls |
Investors brace for Facebook debut on Wall Street |
Verizon data fans to pay more in service or phones |
ZTE confirms security hole in U.S. phone |
GM ad move followed failed Facebook pitch: sources |
Samsung gets 9 million preorders for new Galaxy phone: report |
EA must defend NCAA conspiracy lawsuit |
Insight: Who got Facebook IPO shares? Fairness may not come into it |
Toshiba plans to double operating profit by 2014-15 |
Sorkin says Jobs movie won't be straight biography |
Jessica Sanchez, Phillip Phillips make Idol final |
Broadway play's echoes of Bo scandal may prevent China staging |
And the winner is? The sitcom, TV networks hope |
Avengers may sink Battleship's U.S. launch |
Van Halen postpone more than 30 concert dates |
Iran may seek tactical gain with U.N. nuclear deal |
Growing military buildup, spying in China: Pentagon |
Police detain 400 Blockupy activists in Frankfurt |
Exclusive: Drugmakers weigh emergency supply plan for Greece |
Banks' rising bad loans add to Spanish troubles |
Spat with Iraq bares Turk plunge into regional power game |
U.S. firms eye Myanmar as sanctions suspended |
Facebook fizzles in debut, shares skirt IPO price |
Worries mount as Nokia burns through cash |
Verizon data fans to pay more in service or phones |
Ex-Yahoo CEO Thompson leaves F5 Networks' board |
Joke on Europe as Madagascar sequel comes to Cannes |
Reality TV, celebrity obsession hit Cannes screens |
Exploitation, loneliness in sex tourism film at Cannes |
Sorkin says Jobs movie won't be straight biography |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01