Turkish PM boosts ties with Iraq

Mr Maliki gave his Turkish counterpart a warm welcome to Baghdad

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he has support from Iraq's government and Iraqi Kurdish leaders to fight the Kurdish rebel group, the PKK.

Mr Erdogan, only the second regional leader to visit Iraq since 2003, spoke at a joint Baghdad news conference with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

He said the nations would work together to build security and economic ties.

The two men pledged co-operation over trade, energy and water and agreed to set up a council to foster relations.

The Turkish prime minister spoke of a joint understanding between the two nations, as well regional Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq, to tackle the PKK - an issue which has previously strained relations.

He said: "The PKK is a terrorist organisation, which is not only Turkey's enemy but Iraq's as well.

"We will not allow such attempts to poison relations in the region or between the two countries."

Mr Maliki described the occasion as "a historic visit", saying: "The time is right for Turkey and Iraq to have developed relations."

Cross-border attacks

The presence in the mountainous northern Iraqi border region of fighters from the rebel Turkish Kurdish movement, the PKK, has been the cause of tension between the two nations.

The rebels have been blamed by Ankara for a number of cross-border attacks.

Turkey has blamed Kurdish rebels for cross-border attacks from Iraq

Turkey has launched ground, air and artillery attacks on suspected PKK bases in northern Iraq, which is generally under the control of the Iraqi Kurdish regional government and its forces.

Mr Maliki and Mr Erdogan signed a detailed agreement setting up a "supreme council for strategic co-operation" between the two countries.

In it they pledge to co-operate to combat terrorism, an issue close to the hearts of both governments, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad.

Baghdad is delighted at the signs of regional rehabilitation and acceptance implicit in the Turkish visit, our correspondent adds.

Mr Erdogan is only the second leader of a country neighbouring Iraq to visit the country since the US-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went to Baghdad in March, but no Arab head of state has done so for at least five years.

The visit by Mr Ahmadinejad reinforced the perception that Iraq, under its new government dominated by Shia Muslims and Kurds, was falling under Iranian influence, our correspondent says, an impression the Iraqi government is keen to counter.

King Abdullah of Jordan had been expected to visit earlier this week, but the trip was called off at the last minute over security concerns.

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