The foreign minister of Iraq's new unity government, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, has said the Baghdad administration does not want foreign troops on Iraqi soil to fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Jaafari, who came to Turkey on Wednesday to meet with Turkish officials in order to boost bilateral ties and coordinate efforts to fight terrorism, held a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

He said his government is against foreign troops on Iraqi soil but is ready to accept other means of assistance to defeat ISIL and welcome Turkey's support. “I hope Turkey will continue to support Iraq,” he added.

Çavuşoğlu said Turkey is ready to train and equip members of the Iraqi military and police force but did not elaborate further.

Turkey's relations with Iraq had been on the backburner for a long time despite diplomatic efforts. Turkey's independent energy ties with Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) angered Baghdad. But Ankara had previously said the new prime minister in Iraq had boosted its hopes and that it was ready to improve ties.

The Turkish government recently allowed about 150 peshmerga forces to cross from Turkey into Kobani in Syria, where Kurdish forces are fighting against ISIL militants.

Jaafari said Turkish-Iraqi ties have deep, strategic roots even though the relationship has had problems in the past. “We need to leave the past in the past and look to the future. We need to turn a new page,” he said.

Speaking at the press conference on Wednesday, Çavuşoğlu blamed the previous Iraqi government for being the source of problems in Turkish-Iraqi relations. Stressing that Turkey is happy with the new, inclusive Iraqi government, Çavuşoğlu expressed his hope that Turkey would support Iraq in its fight against ISIL.

Stressing that air strikes will not be sufficient to defeat ISIL in Iraq or Syria, Çavuşoğlu said the international community needs a comprehensive strategy to eliminate the terrorism threat in the region.

He pointed out that it is important to determine the reasons behind terrorism, saying it would otherwise be impossible to completely eliminate it. Çavuşoğlu said there are military, political and humanitarian fronts in the fight against terrorism and that Turkey is doing its part.

“A new chapter in our relations has been opened with this [Jaafari's] visit. There is now a more inclusive administration [in Iraq],” Çavuşoğlu said.

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has been accused of favoring Shiites over Kurds and Sunnis for government positions, resigned in August. Following his resignation, a new unity government was formed on Sept. 8 under Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

“We hope that the new government will embrace the people of Iraq with all its components and pursue policies that will…bring peace and prosperity to the Iraqi people,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry had said in a statement issued after the formation of the new government in Iraq.

The new Iraqi Cabinet was approved by the Iraqi parliament last month. Jaafari and Çavuşoğlu also signed a memorandum of understanding on a visa-free regime for diplomatic and special passports.

Apart from meeting with his counterpart, Jaafari also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Thursday.

Turkish officials had disliked Maliki to such an extent that almost any potential replacement was preferred. Abadi and his deputies, who represent all the major religious and ethnic groups in the country, therefore seem to be a major improvement to Turkey.

Abadi needs to re-establish trust between the different groups in the country and the new government. Kurds and Sunnis felt ignored by the Maliki administration, with Maliki reportedly allocating most senior government positions to Shiites, according to observers in the region.

Today's Zaman