Iran, Turkey reject foreign interference at Baghdad summit

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey condemned “foreign interference” in regional affairs while attending a summit in Baghdad that brought together representatives of nine neighbouring countries, plus France.

Iran’s foreign minister said foreign interference in Iraq will cause instability and his Turkish counterpart said the people of the region can resolve their issues themselves. 

The Conference for Cooperation and Partnership, a summit held in Baghdad on Saturday in coordination with France, hosted heads of state and foreign ministers of Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the heads of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

"Foreign interference is the cause of instability in the region. What we need is sustainable regional security," said Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also said that the people of the region, including Iraq, do not need external meddling. 

"As the people of the region, we know our own problems best and can solve them ourselves. Foreign interventions that do not yield any results can only be prevented in this way. No one thinks that someone will come from outside and find a solution to our problems anymore. Our people expect the solution from us, not from others," he said. 
 
Cavusoglu added that if Iraq is unstable, the whole region will be unstable, and Ankara will keep supporting Baghdad.

Both countries have extensive involvement in Iraq and Iraqi affairs. Iran backs powerful Iraqi militia groups and both militarily target armed Kurdish groups in the Kurdistan Region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said Iraq does not allow anyone to use its territory against other states. 

"Iraq refuses to use its territory for regional and international conflicts. We refuse to let Iraq be a point from which to threaten any party,” he said.    

Influential groups within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) are pro-Iran and supported by Tehran. They operate outside of the Iraqi government’s control and are accused of attacks against foreign forces and diplomatic missions. Tehran has also fired at Iranian Kurdish groups across the border.  

Turkey has carried out a number of military campaigns and conducts regular attacks against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region and areas disputed by Erbil and Baghdad in northern Iraq.