Iraqi government has refused to give visa to Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli for a visit to the ethnically mixed Kirkuk province, Turkish media reported today.
The reports said that Turkish leader intended to get the visa directly through the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that he crosses the border through Nineveh province and his passport does not contain any stamps prints from the Kurdistan Region.

Bahçeli's demand was turned down, the reports said, without identifying the reason.

Earlier reports today said that the Turkish government has sent letters to both the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Baghdad government to protect the nationalist leader and his accompanying delegation in his visit to the oil rich Kirkuk province.

Bahçeli is expected to visit Kirkuk during the Eid al-Fitr and say Eid's prayer in the province, where Turkmans reside side by side Kurds and Arabs.

The visit of the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to Kirkuk on Aug.2 sparked tensions between Baghdad and Ankara.

















AKnews