In Istanbul, Gul receives N.Iraqi leader Barzani

In Istanbul yesterday, President Abdullah Gul received Massoud Barzani, the leader of northern Iraqi regional administration. No statement was made after nearly one-hour closed-door meeting. Barzani was in Turkey for a three-day official visit at the invitation of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. As part of his visit, the northern Iraqi leader was also received by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and had a separate meeting with Davutoglu. During these meetings, top Turkish officials urged Barzani to take further concrete steps against the terrorist PKK and its bases in northern Iraq. Speaking at a joint press conference after meeting with Barzani, Davutoglu said that Turkey wants to achieve "total economic integration" with northern Iraq, adding that stronger cooperation in the fight against the terrorist PKK is a must. In related news, a weekend meeting between one of Turkey's top business leaders and Barzani focused on expanding bilateral economic and trade relations. "We will start working on developing our trade and investment relations with Iraq by putting our Iraqi Working Group into action," said Umit Boyner, chairwoman of the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD). Amid changing world economic conditions, Turkey has started to seek new markets, she said. "At this point, Iraq holds a huge potential for Turkey," she said, citing the situation with Syria as a good example. "With the developing of relations with Syria, trade has revived in the border region while the market of the region has also developed. In brief, ameliorating and improving trade relations will help to develop both the Turkish and northern Iraqi borders, which have problems in terms of development," said Boyner. "Northern Iraq holds great potential for Turkey in terms of expanding its trade. We think that improving trade activities will contribute to our regional development." However, she said, the region has a democratization problem. "At this point, we stressed our concerns and also mentioned that efforts against terrorism should continue."