Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that his country is willing to support Iraq to overcome its "difficulties."

    "I assure to the people of Iraq that you will always find us beside you to overcome those difficulties," Erdogan said at a joint conference with his counterpart Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad.

    "I salute the people of Iraq and say to them, be optimistic that by your unity you will pass the difficulties," he said.

    Erdogan confirmed that "there won't be international peace unless peace and security be achieved in Iraq."

    Maliki said that Erdogan's visit o Iraq is "historical" which is the first for 18 years. He said the relations between the two countries will go forward through a committee for strategic cooperation which will hold meetings twice a year.

    He said Iraqi's success in defying terrorism made them ready to go for the reconstruction phase.

    Earlier in the day, Erdogan arrived here in a visit aimed at boosting bilateral ties.

    He was received at Baghdad airport by Maliki and other senior Iraqi officials, including Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and Minister of Oil Hussein al-Shahristani.

    Erdogan is also expected to hold meetings with other Iraqi leaders, including President Jalal Talabani and two vice presidents -- Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite, and Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni.