Defense minister, Turkish aide discuss regional crises

Minister of Defense Prince Salman yesterday received a verbal message from Turkish President Abdullah Gul to the Saudi leadership. The message was conveyed by Turkish president's senior adviser Ersat Hurmuzlu during a meeting in Riyadh.
Prince Salman and Hurmuzlu explored aspects of cooperation between the two countries, especially in defense and military.
Commenting on the meeting, Director General of the Arab-Turkish Center Dr. Muhammad Al-Adil said the meeting reflects key aspects of Saudi-Turkish relations that he said are developing into a more strategic partnership.
Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent visit to Riyadh and his meeting with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, came in the context of boosting bilateral relations and consultation on regional security as Riyadh remains a key regional, Islamic and international player, he was quoted as saying.
Since any developments in the region will have an impact on the security of Saudi Arabia and Turkey due to their vital role, both countries will work jointly to stop the region from becoming more unstable, he said.
He said Turkey was keen to maintain balanced relations with all parties in the region, which is reflected in Turkey’s attempt to keep Iraq away from Iran’s hegemony and its keenness to see a more stable Iraq internally where its religious and national components are respected.
However, Tehran has become part of the internal crisis and instability in Iraq that will have negative consequences on Turkish and Gulf security, he said.
Many Iraqi Sunni and Shiite leaders are publicly complaining about the Iranian hegemony and attempts by some parties to incite sectarian strife that will lead to instability in Iraq socially and politically, Al-Adil said. Saudi Arabia and Turkey felt that Iraq was experiencing a crisis that had to be resolved, he said.
The current government in Iraq under Nouri Al-Malki is working to implement Iran’s plan threatening to destabilize the whole region due to its controversial regional and international policy threatening security and stability in Iraq and the region as well, Al-Adil said.
On the Syrian crisis, he said Turkey and Saudi Arabia were working to find regional solutions but there has been no response from Syria. Syrians are witnessing an internal crisis where all forms of violence are used against them that will definitely lead to a civil war and will have negative repercussions on regional security, he said.
Both Syria and Iraq are witnessing internal crises and there is a need for foreign intervention because they lack the will to find their own internal solutions, he noted.
Countries in the region have to stop the occurrence of civil wars and foil plans that may serve foreign agendas whether in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon or any other country, he said.
Iran should understand that its security and stability are attainable through regional stability and security and that it should abandon fueling sectarian violence in the region, he said.
He said Saudi Arabia and Turkey bear historic responsibilities as nations are looking to both countries to restore peace and stability in the region.
On Iran’s nuclear talks and its shift from Istanbul to Baghdad, he said Iran wants to give an indication that Iraq is secure and stable as a means to conceal its hegemony where its embassy in Baghdad, ironically, announced that it would ensure security of nuclear talks.
This step affirms that Iraq is not managing its affairs and that Iran made Iraq an instrument to face regional countries, an initiative completely rejected by moderate and independent Iraqi political forces, he said.
Al-Adil expressed belief that the Baghdad meeting would fail because Iran has been planning to give Israel pretexts to wage war on Iran. This is because Iran and Syria badly need foreign threats to minimize chances of internal change in their respective countries, he claimed.
The Saudi-Turkish talks came in response to pressing regional events such as the crisis Syria.