ANKARA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- As the Iraqi government declares the total liberation of Mosul, neighboring Turkey voices its enthusiasm for taking role in reconstruction of the northern province where the Islamic State (IS) occupied for three years in its bloody quest for a caliphate.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim conveyed congratulations to his Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi on Wednesday and offered support for reconstruction of Mosul, spokesperson of Turkey's presidency Ibrahim Kalin told reporters on Thursday.
"We are ready to take on our responsibilities with the international community," the spokesperson said, noting that Turkey could contribute for reconstruction, enabling security, maintaining infrastructure of Mosul.
"We will be in close contact with Iraqi authorities regarding the issues," he added.
"Two prime ministers talked about a possible contribution that Turkey could make for stabilization and reconstruction of those towns. We said that we value the support Turkey can make in this regard," Iraqi ambassador to Ankara, Hisham al-Alawi told reporters on Thursday.
The Iraqi ambassador said Baghdad was particularly interested in support that the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency Directorate (TIKA) could give for postwar reconstruction in Mosul.
Ankara and Baghdad has worked on a draft memorandum for cooperation between TIKA and Iraqi authorities, but they have to study on some articles of the text, the ambassador said.
The agency is responsible for restoration and development projects overseas in the fields of education, health, restoration, agricultural development, finance, tourism and industry. Yet the Turkish government eyes enhancing its business capacity in the war-torn country with taking share in projects that will be financed by international donors.
However, Ankara has to first fully restore ties with Baghdad as the two countries are still in a rapprochement period after a long tension over Turkey's military deployment in Bashiqa camp near Mosul province in northern Iraq aiming to train and arm local forces to fight the IS group. But the Iraqi central government strictly rejected Turkish presence in the region saying it was violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
In January, Turkish Prime Minister visited Baghdad to end the diplomatic crisis between the two countries and pledged to withdraw Turkish soldiers from the camp soon after the Nineveh offensive is ended.
Iraqi Ambassador Alawi stressed that an invitation by Turkish PM Yildirim to Iraq's Abadi for a visit to Turkey would be realized if some problems between two countries, referring to the Bashiqa camp, are resolved on the ground.
There is heavy destruction caused by the heavy battles to dislodge the IS militants in the western side of Mosul. Many of the displaced, almost 700,000 people, live in camps, or have been relocated to other Iraqi cities.
The Iraqi government already asked the foreign governments and NGOs for contribution, estimating that the destruction in areas liberated from IS in the last three years have cost up to 100 billion dollars.
In April, Iraq's Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari asked the United States to develop a financial plan for the reconstruction of the war-torn country, similar to a program developed for Western Europe after the Second World War.
