SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Bagdad mayor Alaa Maan calls on Turkish companies to invest in the Iraqi capital, Turkey’s state news agency reported on Tuesday (December 29).
Maan told Anadolu Agency that the federal government wants foreign companies to play a role in the development of Baghdad.
“Turkey’s experience in this field is inspiring. We want to benefit from Turkey’s experience in the field of development,” Anadolu quoted Maan as saying.
“We want to increase cooperation with Turkey in the field of development,” he said.
He added that a recent visit by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to Turkey was a major contribution to relations between Baghdad and Ankara, according to Anadolu.
Kadhimi leading a high-level government delegation visited Ankara on December 17 to discuss bilateral relations and economic ties as well as regional developments with Turkish officials.
Iraq and Turkey also agreed to continue working on a Turkish-proposed action plan geared toward the “effective use” of the waters of the Tigris River, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a joint press conference with Kadhimi in Ankara.
“As Turkey, we stress that water shouldn’t be assessed as a factor for disagreement, but a field for cooperation,” Erdogan noted.
Iraq secures its water need from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, stemming from Turkey, which has been trying to use the rivers’ water to generate electric power for years. Ankara has built Ilisu dam in 2006 and made it operational in 2018.
The dam limited the flow of water to Iraq, which exacerbated fear in Mesopotamia of an acute water shortage and an incapacity to meet the population’s daily and agricultural needs.
Iraqi premier’s office said in a statement that the Iraqi delegation had signed two agreements with the Turkish officials regarding taxes and culture.
