Iraq's President Jalal Talabani said March 8 he seeks a "strategic" partnership with Turkey as he wrapped up a visit to Ankara aimed at easing tension sparked by the Turkish military's eight-day incursion into Iraq last month. Speaking to members of a Turkish-Iraqi joint business group, Talabani also called on Turkish interests to invest in Iraq's oil sector. "We want to forge strategic relations in all fields including oil, the economy, trade, culture and politics," Talabani said. Addressing Turkish fears, Talabani stressed that Kurdish rebels would not be tolerated inside Iraq's borders, and said Iraq was continuing to put pressure on the PKK to lay down arms. (AP, March 8)

Gee, why is everybody making nice all of a sudden?

See our last post on Iraq and the struggle for Kurdistan.