KurdistanObserver.com   Ankara More Angry on Conference Switch than Barzani Remarks Ilnur Cevik - The New Anatolian - Baghdad / Ankara April 17, 2007 The current anger against the Iraqi Kurdish leaders came to a boiling point in the Turkish capital with the delayed airing of a Massoud Barzani interview in Al Arabiya but the real source of Ankara's furor was the belief that it was the Kurdish opposition to hold the conference of Iraq's neighbors in Istanbul that was regarded as a heavy blow to Turkish diplomacy and prestige. Sources close to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the Iraqi Kurds for failing to keep their promise to help host the meeting in Istanbul. Erdogan had met Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, also a leading Kurd, at the Arab summit in Riyadh. The announcement by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the meeting will be held in Cairo at the start of May shocked Ankara. Turkish leaders said they were under pressure from some regional countries to boycott the meeting. Turkish leaders feel hosting the meeting in Istanbul was a matter of diplomatic prestige as Turkey had done all the ground work for such a conference which would bring the foreign ministers of the United States, Syria and Iran at the same table for the first time. Iraqi Kurdish sources in Baghdad said the Iraqi presidential council led by Talabani had nothing to do with the Cairo decision and it was essentially a cabinet decision to host the meeting in the Egyptian capital. A preparatory meeting for the conference was held in Baghdad. The New Anatolian was told Kurds voted in favor of Istanbul but the Arabs represented in the cabinet felt Cairo would be a better venue because they wanted to follow up the results of the Arab summit in Riyadh in another prominent Arab capital. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Barham Saleh reportedly favored Istanbul. Sources close to Al Maliki said the Shiite leadership is angry that Ankara has hosted Sunni Arab delegations in recent months much to their opposition. The New Anatolian was told Al Maliki frequently voices this anger at every possible occasion.       Copyright © 2002, Kurdistan Observer