Interview with Iraq coordinator Ambassador Ökçün

Ambassador Ahmet Rifat Ökçün is responsible for coordinating Turkey’s reconstruction activities in post-conflict Iraq. In an interview with IRIN, Ökçün said his office was doing all it could to assist in the delivery of humanitarian aid to Iraqis. He added that Turkey would be able to draw on its past experience to play a key role in the future reconstruction of Iraq. QUESTION: What are your responsibilities as Iraq coordinator? ANSWER: The prime minister has issued a decree appointing the Turkish foreign ministry as the coordinating authority for the Turkish public and private sector activities and preparations concerning the reconstruction of Iraq. I am appointed as the coordinator. Within my capacity, I bring together the Turkish private sector umbrella organisations together with the Turkish public offices, and try to figure out what sort of difficulties we have, what sort of problems we are faced with, and try to figure out what solutions we can bring. Q: And what are some of the problems you have been faced with so far? A: Many problems. We have prepared a plan of action. Part of this considers our future activities abroad and the second part considers what sort of measures we should take within Turkey. Q: How would you characterise the humanitarian situation inside Iraq at the moment? A: Sixty percent of the Iraqi population is in need of humanitarian assistance, if not more. That makes roughly 15 million people - a very, very big figure, and for some time they will still be needing humanitarian assistance, and we are happy that part of that assistance is procured in Turkey. And we are happy that we are assisting the efforts of the international organisations. Q: You said that some of the assistance is procured in Turkey. Could you please elaborate on what you mean by this? A: I meant procurement for international organisations, including the WFP [World Food Programme]. But Turkey has also prepared a humanitarian assistance programme for the people of Iraq. It is a modest programme perhaps, but it shows our concern for the Iraqi people. It is not finalised, but in rough figures it is around [US] $5 million. It will go towards medical equipment and food assistance and a certain part will probably be given to the UN Flash Appeal. Our national society, the Turkish Red Crescent, last week provided seven trucks of food, bottled water and medicine to the hospitals in Kirkuk and in Badat. Q: Some people say that the whole process of getting access to the border area in southeastern Turkey is quite difficult - stringent. Do you anticipate that the process will become easier in the future? A: We did not make any restrictions against any group or organisation in particular. Whatever measures were taken were made because of the war just across our borders. Many UN personnel came to Turkey and passed through Habur Gate. With the notification of the UN resident coordinator, we gave them the necessary go-ahead within 24 hours or at the latest 48 hours. You are probably talking about restrictions regarding the travel of UN and other personnel in the region. There were some checkpoints. I do not know if there are still any, because they were imposed during the war. We do not think there is a big problem on the ground now. Of course, if there are any checkpoints, they may be removed later. There is no concern from the UN side which has been passed to us to date. Q: To what extent are you helping to facilitate the entry of NGOs into northern Iraq? A: As far as I know, there are more than 10 NGOs now operating inside Iraq which have passed from the Turkish side. We have facilitated all their requests, and we are cooperating with them fully, but there are some rules and regulations. The most important is that they should apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs if they want to provide food or humanitarian assistance to Iraq. Q: There has also been talk about a second border-crossing opening from Turkey into northern Iraq, which would boost its capacity as a humanitarian corridor. Can you shed any light on this? A: This is not a new idea. We have been working on this for the past 10 years or so. Habur crossing point is sometimes not sufficient to handle heavy traffic, so we talked of having an alternative route into Iraq. We had talks with the Iraqi side at one stage before the war, but now this idea is just on the table. Even if we do want to continue with this idea - and I do not know if this is the case or not - we do not have the other party sitting across the table to discuss this matter, so we shall wait and see and if in future we realise that the need is there, we’ll work on that. Q: There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether WFP should have to pay tax on food imported into Turkey. Could you please clarify your government’s position on this? A: I’ll tell you this. In the past 30 days [from 4 April to 5 May] around 2,500 trucks crossed the border carrying WFP humanitarian assistance to Iraq. Q: But I understand that these deliveries are for food purchased locally. A: Not necessarily. This is a very technical issue. Normally Turkish companies and trucks deliver the food procured inside Turkey. And these trucks do not pay VAT [Value Added Tax] for these sorts of services. But if food items are brought to Turkey from other countries in bulk [such] as wheat, and it is milled inside Turkey, then the end product is wheat flour. There is a change in the substance of the good itself... If WFP transports this wheat flour from Turkey into Iraq, it is different to wheat flour purchased from Turkey, and our Ministry of Finance would probably require VAT to be paid. We [the foreign ministry] have written to the Ministry of Finance to find out if there is any way we can help. If we can find a way for WFP to avoid paying this tax, we will do it, but if it involves a change in the law it could be difficult. Q: What is the position of the Turkish government on the sanctions in Iraq? A: Today I had a meeting with 100 Turkish contractors. They were all complaining that Turkey was the only country adhering to the letter of the sanctions imposed. They gave examples of other countries in the region - Iraq’s neighbours - who are allowing all kinds of material to be exported to Iraq. Only Turkey puts strict measures on Turkish exporters for the application of UN resolutions. I told them [the contractors] that they should be proud that the Turkish government was adhering to UN resolutions, and they told me that this adherence was costing them literally millions of dollars. Q: So you would presumably be in favour of lifting the sanctions. A: Certainly. The war is over. The reason for imposing an embargo on Iraq is over now. There is no need why we should keep the embargo rules going on and on. Turkey is the one country that has lost a lot - literally billions of dollars - because of the embargo, so we want it to be lifted. Q: I heard that Turkish Airlines might be flying to Baghdad soon. Is this true? A: We are working on the idea. The issue is that there is no air embargo to Iraq. The embargo is only for commercial purposes and items, and it was interpreted in a wide manner, putting commercial airlines under this economic embargo. We want Turkish Airlines to resume their flights to Baghdad as soon as possible. But we cannot act alone on that matter. First we have to figure out if the ex-Saddam Airport [now called Baghdad International Airport] is suitable for landing and taking off. What about the tower? What about the tarmac? Are their any military restrictions? Like road traffic, planes need special rules to fly. We do not know when these rules are cleared or clarified. But as soon as these issues are solved, we shall be flying there. Q: What about the reconstruction aspect of your mandate? A: I am trying to organise the Turkish private sector to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq. We are here next to Iraq, and Turkey has played an important role in past years in the country. We helped Iraq to build its roads, irrigation systems, factories, dams and whatnot. I think Turkey is the number one country in the region with the highest technology, economic development and experience to be preferred by anyone needing to do business in Iraq. We have been here for centuries and we shall be here for centuries to come. I think we have a very good chance of playing an important role in the reconstruction of Iraq. Q: Lastly, are you planning to travel to Iraq soon? A: Yes, I shall be travelling very soon. The date is not yet fixed. Our embassy will be reopened very soon in Baghdad, and I will then be travelling there with a delegation.