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Turkey Threatens U.S. over Iraq Casualties
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that he told US officials that Turkey would no longer cooperate with the US over Iraq if ethnic Turks continued to be harmed in US military operations against suspected insurgents in northern Iraq.Don't talk throw the fucks out of Incirlik The US military has launched an offensive in Tal Afar, a largely ethnic Turkish city in northern Iraq. Iraqi and American forces say the operation is aimed at trying to root out hundreds of militants and restore government control. Turkey has said the US should end its operations there, insisting the attacks have caused casualties among the mostly ethnic Turks living there. Reports from the area said that several ethnic Turks were killed or wounded in the operation, while thousands more were forced to flee. Gul said he spoke to US Secretary of State Colin Powell "and told him that what is being done there is harming the civilian population, that it is wrong, and that if it continues, Turkey's cooperation on issues regarding Iraq will come to a total stop." "We have conveyed this very openly. ... Of course we won't limit ourselves to words. We never shy away from carrying out whatever is necessary," he added. He did not elaborate and it was not clear if he was hinting that Turkey might intervene in the region. Gul also did not say when the conversation with Powell took place. Hundreds of Turkish trucks haul goods for US soldiers and for the Iraqi people each day from Turkey. US officials have said the US was taking efforts to avoid civilian casualties and make sure that humanitarian aid can reach the area. Turkey has been concerned lately with efforts by Iraqi Kurds to claim northern cities, such as Tal Afar and Kirkuk — where ethnic Turks are concentrated — in the run-up to a scheduled census in October. Posted by: Murat 2004-09-14 |
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