Davutoglu pays historic visit to Kirkuk

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday proceeded to Kirkuk from Arbil in the morning, and thus became the first Turkish foreign minister to set foot in the city since 1937. After a meeting with Kirkuk Governor Najmadin Kareem and Turkmen President of the Provincial Council of Kirkuk Hasan Turan, Davutoglu proceeded to the headquarters of Iraqi Turkmen, where he greeted reporters in Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic. Speaking to reporters, Davutoglu pledged that Turkey would use all of its means to maintain the peace in Kirkuk. "This is the most important day of my life. I am visiting Kirkuk, which was always in my dreams. I am happy to be the first Turkish foreign minister to visit Kirkuk in 75 years. Kirkuk will be an eternal city of peace in Iraq where our Turkmen, Kurdish and Arab brothers live together," Davutoglu said. "Kirkuk's unity and fraternity is Iraq's unity and fraternity. In Kirkuk, Turkmen, Kurds and Arabs have lived together for centuries and they will live in peace forever. And we will live together in peace with our Iraqi brothers regardless of their Sunni, Shiite, Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen or Christian identities," Davutoglu added. Davutoglu's visit to Kirkuk followed his meeting with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leader Massoud Barzani for talks on Syrian Kurds, which was also attended by chairmen of the Syrian National Council (SNC) and Kurdish National Council of Syria (KNCS) to discuss latest developments in Syria. Recent developments in Syria were discussed during the meeting which was closed to press.