Turkey-Iraq war of words escalating

In worsening bilateral relations with Iraq, Turkey on Tuesday summoned the Iraqi charge d'affaires. This comes a day after Iraq summoned the Turkish ambassador, in an escalating diplomatic row, which some analysts fear and warn is rooted in the region's deep-seated Sunni-Shiite tensions. The leaders of both nations have recently levelled many accusations at the other. Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an Thursday, criticised the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, for "self-centred" behaviour that he said was dividing the nation, according to a local Turkish news agency. The agency mentioned that the Iraqi leader responded quickly, by describing Turkey as a "hostile state" born out of a fundamentally sectarian agenda. Many analysts have stated that Turkey, which is mainly Sunni, views Shiite-led Iraq with growing suspicion. A report Tuesday by UAE-based daily The National, claims the affair is part of an unfolding "Cold War"-style standoff between Shiite and Sunni Muslim leaders in the region. The Damascus-based professor, Dr Marwan Kabalan, recently stated in Gulf News that it is also likely that Ankara believes the nation's increasingly friendliness  with Shiite regional powers like Iran is a further cause for concern. This he believes could be a strain that could further threaten and destabilise their shared neighbour Syria. Others have also reported that Turkey is becoming increasingly close with Masoud Barzani, the leader of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, which is currently locked in a bitter dispute with Baghdad over oil payments.