Iraqi PM warns Turkey of becoming 'hostile state'

Baghdad, April 21 (Xinhua-ANI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki warned Turkey of becoming a "hostile state" if continue sectarian interference into Iraq's internal affairs, Maliki's office said on Saturday.

"The recent statements by Mr. Erdogan represent another return for the flagrant interference in the Iraqi internal affairs," the office said in a statement posted on its website.

"It is unfortunate that his statements have a sectarian dimension. To insist on continuing these internal and regional policies would harm Turkey interests and make it hostile state for all, in addition that it (such policies) is against the basic rules of communications between countries," the statement said.

Maliki's statement came in response to comments by Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan who, on Thursday, accused his Iraqi counterpart of stirring up tensions between Iraq's Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish communities with his "self-centred" ways and behavior toward Iraqi coalition partners.

"The developments in Iraq are not good signs, especially the current prime minister's behavior towards his coalition partners," Erdogan told a news conference after a meeting in Turkey's Istanbul with Masoud Barzani, the president of Iraq's semi- autonomous Kurdish region. (Xinhua-ANI)