Ecevit to the Iraqi Minister:  'Second gate to be delayed due to technical problems'

Turkish Daily News
July 25, 2001
by SAADET ORUC

The second border gate planned to be built between Turkey and Iraq is to be delayed due
to "technical problems" Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit told Iraqi Oil Minister Amir
Muhammed Rasheed in Ankara on Tuesday.

A senior official, who was present at the meeting between Rasheed and Ecevit, told the
Turkish Daily News that Iraqi oil minister, who is visiting Ankara to co-chair the Joint
Economic Committee meetings, raised the issue of the second border gate during the
33-minute-long talk with the Turkish premier.

"Prime Minister said that it is not time to build the second border gate due to technical
problems," a senior official said, stating that the second border gate issue will not be on the
agenda of the Turkish side during the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) talks which
wasscheduled to start late afternoon on Tuesday.

Rasheed was received by Ecevit on Tuesday, together with State Minister Edip Safter
Gaydali, co-chairman of the Turkish-Iraqi JEC, Foreign Trade official Kursat Tuzmen and
officials from the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad.

The Prime Minister invited Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan and the Iraqi deputy
prime minister Tariq Azez to Turkey. The 13th JEC meeting was launched on Tuesday and
will continue for two days.

A memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be signed between the two sides.

Turkey and Iraq both plan to increase volume of trade and seek new areas of cooperation
in the field of economy.

However, the second border gate, despite prior expectations, will not be discussed at the
talks, due to the preference of the Turkish side.

The plans to build such a gate caused a tension not only between Turkey and its Western
allies, but also the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) controlling two-thirds of the northern
provinces of northern Iraq, naming it as "Autonomous Region of Iraqi Kurdistan."

A key Turkish diplomat visited northern Iraq recently to clarify Turkish policy on theregion.

The KDP had recently expressed its displeasure over messages coming from Ankara, but the
misunderstandings were eliminated following the efforts paid by the above mentioned
diplomat in the region.
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