March 18, 2013 - 11:31 AMT
Kerry, Davutoglu discuss situation in Iraq and Cyprus

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu had one more phone conversation about the developments in Iraq and Cyprus, Hürriyet Daily News reported.

“As their first conversation took longer than planned, the unaddressed issues of Iraq and Cyprus were left to their later talk, and that took place on March 16,” diplomatic sources told the HDN.

The discussion focused on the developments in Iraq as tension between Iraqi Kurds and the Shiite government has escalated recently. Both countries are concerned that the tension will bring an armed conflict to the already unstable region, which could jeopardize the political and territorial unity of Iraq. In addition, Washington voiced concern about Turkey’s approach to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for accomplishing multi-billion dollar energy deals although the central and regional governments could not settle their disputes over how to share oil revenues, the report says.

The two men have also evaluated the results of the presidential elections in Cyprus.