ANKARA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Iraqi Minister of Oil Husayn al-Shahristani said on Saturday that Iraq desired to improve its cooperation with Turkey in the energy sector.

    Shahristani, who arrived in Turkey for a series of talks, made the remarks in the Turkish capital of Ankara after his official talks with Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler.

    He said that Iraq wants to provide gas to Turkey and considers Turkey as a transit country as well.

    Guler, for his part, said that during his talks with Shahristani, they discussed projects aiming to bring Iraqi oil and natural gas to Turkey in an effort to diversify energy resources.

    He said such projects would be carried out by Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) and Turkish Petroleum International Company Ltd. (TPIC), adding that details of the new pipelines would be determined together with Iraqi officials.