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| Iraq |
| "Regret" over Turkish troops’ arrest |
| 2003-07-15 |
| The US and Turkish military have expressed regret over the arrest of Turkish commandos by American troops in northern Iraq. US troops arrested 24 people - 11 soldiers and 13 civilians - in the northern Iraqi town of Sulaymaniyah on 4 July. A statement released following a joint investigation into the affair said both sides regretted the incident and the treatment faced by the Turkish soldiers in detention. "Turkey and the United States have decided to ensure better co-operation and co-ordination in Iraq and have agreed to take all measures required to prevent the repetition of such incidents in the future." Note the very careful use of diplomatic language. The statement, released by Turkish military headquarters, followed bilateral talks on how the Turkish soldiers were arrested and detained for 60 hours. But it did not explain the reasons behind the arrests, which Washington said were based on the "reports of disturbing activities" that the soldiers may have been involved in. However Ankara has denied this. "Disturbing activities", they were suspected of planning to kill Kurdish leaders. The arrests triggered what Turkey’s chief of general staff, Hilmi Ozkok, described as a "crisis of trust" between Ankara and Washington. The crisis is that we don’t trust the Turks and they know it. A phone call between the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the US Vice President, Dick Cheney on 4 July is thought to have played a crucial role in the soldiers’ release. Mr Erdogan called the situation "a totally ugly incident" and ordered the immediate closure of Harbur gate - the vital roadway that links Turkey to Iraq. The Turkish commandos were taken to Baghdad for interrogation by the Americans but were released 60-hours afterwards and returned to north Iraq by helicopter. The Turkish media almost universally condemned the arrests as an insult to Turkish pride and a long alliance with Washington. There were angry scenes in Ankara and Istanbul as public anti-US sentiment spilled onto the streets. Turkey, which fought a 15-year war against Kurdish separatists of its own, fears that self-ruling Kurds in northern Iraq could fuel new clashes within Turkey. It previously threatened to increase its military presence in northern Iraq to thwart a possible move by Iraqi Kurds to declare independence, but backed off under US pressure. "Regret", we regret the Turks did it and they regret getting caught. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #3 First we offer them $15 billion to let the 4th ID to transit their rocky little country. This is an on again/off again deal that leaves our troops floating in the Med. Next we tell keep your stupid little countryand send our guys around thru the Suez and up the Persian Gulf. Then they make noises about a stronger Kurdish state. (Eh, go back to point one.) Finally, they are trying to carve out a piece of Iraq as a 12 mile buffer zone, and threaten to send us packing from their bases. *** Newsflash *** We now control a big stretch of sand to south. You know the patch between Syria and Iran. |
| Posted by: Douglas De Bono 2003-7-15 5:45:21 PM |
| #2 "The Turkish media almost universally condemned the arrests as an insult to Turkish pride and a long alliance with Washington." The hypocrisy of the Turks is amazing - they must be getting pointers from Phrawnce. They have zero business crossing the border - I don't care what they did in the past as it's irrelevant, now. If you caught someone in the henhouse and he was carrying all the fixins to whip up some fried chicken - would you describe it as "disturbing" - or as something else, something a little more direct? Fuck Turkey. |
| Posted by: PD 2003-7-15 3:32:44 PM |
| #1 This is the second time this has happened. I hope that someone has advised Ankara that if it happenes a third time, we'll send them back in body bags. |
| Posted by: Mike 2003-7-15 12:23:02 PM |