Turkey is in no position to challenge US policy, and has not expressed its misgivings publicly in recent months. But Turkish officials, who believe the sanctions have brought much suffering to the Iraqi population, but done little to unseat Saddam Hussein, often question privately the efficiency of the embargo. Treading a fine line between Washington and Baghdad, the Turks have tried to convince the Iraqi authorities to accept the UN resolutions, a move that would lead to a normalization of Baghdad's relations with the outside world. The Iraqi authorities have so far remained deaf to Turkey's entreaties, but diplomatic channels are open between the two countries. In 1997, Turkey and Iraq had signed a preliminary deal to build a gas pipeline with a annual capacity of 10 billion cubic meters, but restrictions on Iraq's exports of oil and gas have so far held up the project.
Relations are often tense between the two neighbors.
The two countries, also divided by a dispute over sharing the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates, nevertheless have many common interests, mainly a wish to prevent the establishment of an independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq. They seem to have decided to set their differences aside for the time being in an attempt to develop their trade relations. Illegal border trade between the two countries has flourished in recent years. Tanker trucks carry oil through the border post at Habur. So far the UN have ignored the violation, mainly because it helps sustain the Iraqi Kurds in Northern Iraq, who collect taxes from the trucks.