Turkey criticizes preventing Turkish official from visiting Kirkuk

Follow-up (IraqiNews.com) Turkey criticized the Iraqi government’s refusal to grant visa to a leader of Turkish opposition party to visit the province of Kirkuk. Anatolia Turkish News Agency reported “The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and his official Spokesman Bulent Arinc criticized the Iraqi central government’s refusal to issue a visa to Daulat Bhtch Le, the head of the Nationalist Movement opposition Turkish Party.”

He continued saying that “This procedure is a special internal Iraqi affairs, no matter how we angry or criticized, it is the question of their implementation of the visa to issue it to us or not, due to their evaluation.”

It is noteworthy that the Iraqi authorities refused to issue a visa for Daulat Bhtch Le, the head of the NM Turkish opposition, to enter Iraq a few days ago on the back of strained relations between Ankara and Baghdad due to the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu’s visit to the city of Kirkuk at the beginning of this month without the approval of the central government, which prompted the Iraqi Council of Ministers to take a decision to revise Iraqi – Turkish relations.

The Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu visited on the first of August Kurdistan region, where he met with Kurdistan Region’s President Masoud Barzani and discussed with him the overall situation between Ankara and the Region and the developments of the Syrian crisis, then, he visited the province of Kirkuk and met with local officials there.