Cengiz Candar: A Turkish-Iraqi axis like the French-German one?

And, as an Iraqi official announced it, he was welcomed with a first-class military ceremony, in which Erdoğan walked on a red carpet after the plane that carried him landed at the Baghdad International Airport. Such a glorious welcoming ceremony for a visiting statesman was being held for the first time in Iraq's history.

Erdoğan on red carpet:

The office of the Prime Ministry in the 'green zone', or the erstwhile 'forbidden city' located at the heart of Baghdad, then, became the stage for a confidential meeting between the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and Erdoğan.  Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Ahmad Salih, who later told us in an enthusiastic tone about the importance of Erdoğan's visit to Baghdad, also referred to the very significance of the 'Strategic and Economic Cooperation Agreement', an accord signed between the two parties. For Salih, this recent reconciliation between Turkey and Iraq is so crucial that it might well change the entire look of the Middle East and even serve to formation of a strong Turkey-Iraq axis.

Again for Salih, a Turkey-Iraq strategic alliance means 'building of a Gulf-Europe connection'. And the fact that the Kurds of the both countries will make up the main constituency of such an axis, if it is formed, would make the connection even more significant. Geography and geopolitics, therefore, renders a possible Turkey-Iraq alliance more meaningful.

When an old friend of mine told me that this cooperation between Iraq and Turkey would apparently set the stage for emergence of a Common Market in the Middle East, I responded him with a question. "Can we liken it to the German-French cooperation that took place in the 1950s?" And here is his reply: "Yes, definitely and absolutely."

 Erdoğan's visit to Baghdad paved the way for formation of a unique type of a committee called the 'Turkey-Iraq Strategic Cooperation Council' that will be headed by the two prime ministers and that will gather at least once in a year. In addition, under the supervision of the two prime ministers, a sub-committee of ministers will convene three times a year in an effort to consolidate the Turkish-Iraqi cooperation and unity in the fields of diplomacy, security, energy, and economy. These meetings will then give birth to action plans related to certain matters once both parties compromise on them.

The oil business:

Iraq is a country as rich as Saudi Arabia in terms of its oil reservoirs. It almost resembles a continent floating on an ocean of oil and natural gas, a reservoir of $50 trillions. Current oil production rate is 2.5 barrels a day. The Kirkuk-Yumurtalık pipeline functions at a 40-percent capacity and serves the flow of 500,000 barrel of oil a day.

The level of oil production might increase, the pipeline might be renewed, and Turkey might be present in the oil-rich southern parts of Iraq and play a considerable role in oil prospecting, extraction and marketing in all around the country. And the natural gas areas that no operation has started yet should not be forgotten. Thus, the two issues, energy and security, are what make up the founding principles of the 'strategic unity' that has currently being formed between Turkey and Iraq.

All in all, this latest reconciliation between Turkey and Iraq also attract the attention of two main power blocs in the world: The United States of America and the European Union. The EU pays the most attention to a Turkey-Iraq energy cooperation that can be linked to the Nabucco project since it will pave the way for diversification of the energy transportation routes and cause Russia to lose its monopoly over these routes. The United States, on the other hand, has a positive approach to the idea of transmission of Iraqi oil and natural gas to the Mediterranean world and Europe through Turkey for it is constantly on alert regarding the 'Gulf' because of the 'potential threat' Iran poses. Hence, for all these reasons, the international community welcomes this current Turkish-Iraqi 'strategic cooperation'.

As long as the strategic goals are 'passionately' desired, political developments inside Turkey will continue to be followed meticulously in Baghdad. But that meticulousness will also be accompanied with a certain level of 'anxiety' since the increasing instability, the unsolved secularism-religion problem and the possible outcomes of the closure case opened against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) are a serious source of 'anxiety' in Baghdad.

Cevad Bulani, Interior Minister of Iraq, Ali Dabbagh, the spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister, Salih, and I had the chance to enjoy a fruitful talk. My question whether or not they were concerned about the recent development in Turkey receives a categorical reply: "Definitely." Then comes its reason: "You know, Iraq is home to some fundamentalist groups. What we argue is that Islam and democracy can go hand in hand. Turkey is the best example to that. And if some spoil this congruity of Islam and democracy in Turkey, then, all the fundamentalists in Iraq and in the larger Middle East will have no path the follow other than that of terrorism."

 "But despite all," added Salih, "We believe democracy will win in Turkey."

A successful expedition:

So, this latest expedition to Baghdad was genuinely fruitful. In the Ottoman times, expeditions to Baghdad used to take quite a long time. In his visit to this unique Middle Eastern city in the 21st century, Erdoğan was accompanied by four ministers, 14 bureaucrats, 12 security guards, one medical doctor, seven journalists and a photographer

Not only Al-Maliki but also parliamentary speaker Muhammad Al-Meshadani and vice presidents Adil Abdulmehdi and Tariq Al-Hashemi watched every step of Erdoğan's visit. At the end of our visit to Baghdad, we also had a dinner with Jalal Talabani. But the episodes in Baghdad, this magic city of the 'One Thousand and One Nights Tales' are just too long that cannot be told in one single piece here. So, please wait till tomorrow if you want to learn more about Talbani and the details of Erdoğan's 'expedition' to Baghdad.