ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey has promised to provide greater assistance to Erbil in its war with the Islamic State and to help with the humanitarian crisis brought on by the huge influx of refugees into the Kurdistan Region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Nechirvan Barzani, the Kurdistan Region Prime Minister on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Istanbul that ends on Monday. The meeting follows signs of strain in the Ankara-Erbil relationship. Ties were badly strained after IS forces captured large swathes of Iraqi territory in the north in an assault that began in June, before turning their guns on the Kurdistan Region last month. Turkey, which had vowed to stand by Erbil against the jihadis, refused to act, citing 49 hostages held – but since released - by the militants. The Turkish leader reaffirmed his country’s commitment to all agreements with Erbil, according to a statement by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). "The two sides talked in detail about the events and the latest developments in Iraq, the Kurdistan Region and the region, and highlighted in particular the events after the terrorist attacks by the Islamic State (IS) on the province of Mosul and in Tikrit, and then on the Kurdistan Region," the statement said. "President Erdogan emphasized on enhancing Turkey's relations with the Kurdistan Region and reiterated Turkey's commitment to these relationships and agreements with the Kurdistan Region in all areas," it added. Turkey has been the landlocked Kurdistan Region’s largest trade partner and a strategic ally for controversial oil exports through a pipeline to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Erdogan said his country is “in constant coordination with the coalition forces in the face of terrorism, and that this coordination will be also include the Kurdistan Region in order to end any threat to the region," according to the KRG statement. Barzani "reiterated the desire of the Kurdistan Region in the progress of economic and political relations between the two sides," the KRG statement said. Turkey has been a reluctant partner in a coalition of some 50 nations that have come together to defeat the IS armies fighting in Iraq and Syria. But Ankara has promised to step up its role, following the release of the hostages held by the religious fanatics less than a fortnight ago. At the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, Erdogan last week promised that his country would do “whatever is needed” to defeat the radicals. Local Turkish media say that Ankara, which has been accused of turning a blind eye to jihadis using its territory to cross into Syria and Iraq, has reached a “point of determination” over the threat. The KRG statement said that Erdogan and Barzani also discussed the Kurdish decision to remain in Iraq’s inclusive government. It spoke of “the political process in Iraq and the new government led by (Iraqi Prime Minister) Haider Abadi and expectations of events and developments in the region and the Middle East in general." The Kurds had threatened to stay out of the Iraqi government unless serious issues over oil and the budget were addressed by Baghdad. Erbil has given Baghdad three months to seriously address those issues. "The decision of the Kurds to take part in the new Iraqi government was to give a chance to Baghdad to shift its policy towards Erbil and address the problems between Erbil and Baghdad," Barzani was quoted as telling Erdogan. The KRG delegation included Barzani’s deputy, Qubad Talabani, and the minister of natural resources, Ashti Hawrami, as well as the minister of planning and the head of foreign relations.
