Turkey : Foreign Ministry Reacts Strongly to US Detention of Turkish Officers

Zaman ^ | July 05, 2003 | editor

[pkpjamestown]

TURKEY, July 05, 2003 - In a statement issued just moments ago, the Foreign Ministry expressed deep concern and sorrow at the detention of eleven members of Turkish Armed Forces by US troops in Suleymaniye, Iraq yesterday. The Turkish officers are believed to have been taken to Kerkuk (Kirkuk).

The ministry said that upon receiving the news yesterday afternoon, top level talks were held with Washington. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Commander in Chief,

U.S. European Command General James L. Jones and US Secretary of State Colin Powell were contacted. At home, the foreign ministry and general staff are continuing efforts to resolve the situation.

The Undersecretary of the US Ambassador in Ankara Robert Deutch was summoned to the ministry.

The statement reads as follows:

"In our contacts with Washington we emphasized many times the immediate release of the Turkish soldiers, that the necessary measures be taken and we requested that the responsible US officials inform us of developments.

Any developments, regarding the incident, that would have a possible impact on the US-Turkish relations will be followed very closely."

It has been claimed that the officers were suspected of plotting to assassinate the governor of Kirkuk."

[bert]

It would appear that small scale invasions of Iraq will be repulsed. More soldiers and fewer officers might insure a win.

[MEG33]

What were Turks doing in Iraq?

[DB]

Too bad.

I'd bet we intercepted their communications and what they were planning on doing. We then stopped them.

Turkey forfeited all rights to a say in Iraq by causing our boys to bleed needlessly because of Turkish treachery. Screw'em.

[a_Turk]

ISTANBUL, Turkey - U.S. forces raided a Turkish special forces office in northern Iraq (news - web sites) and detained 11 soldiers, Turkish officials said Saturday. A Turkish newspaper said the arrests aimed to stop a plot by Turks to kill the Kurdish governor of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

The detentions further strained ties between the longtime allies, who fell out over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded the soldiers' release.

A government official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said some 100 U.S. soldiers detained three Turkish officers and eight noncommissioned officers in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah Friday afternoon. They were taken to Kirkuk.

The U.S. forces were acting on intelligence reports that some Turks in Kirkuk were planning to assassinate the Kurdish governor of Kirkuk, the newspaper Hurriyet said.

"This is an ugly incident," Erdogan said. "It should not have happened."

"For an allied country to behave in such a way toward its ally cannot be explained," he added.

After the arrests, Turkey closed the Habur border gate, the sole crossing point for aid and goods between Turkey and Iraq.

Erdogan said Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was in contact with Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites).

"We are assured (by U.S. officials) that the soldiers are safe. But we want them to be released as soon as possible," Erdogan said.

Sgt. Patrick Compton, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said he had no information on the incident. A U.S. Embassy official said Turkish officials had raised the issue late Friday, but said the embassy had no "concrete" information.

Turkey has long maintained a military presence in parts of northern Iraq in a campaign to suppress Turkish Kurd rebel operating in the region. At the onset of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Turkey threatened to send in troops, fearing Iraqi Kurds would establish an independent state in northern Iraq, which could fuel the separatist movement among Turkey's Kurds.

It has sent military observers to Kirkuk.

Kurdish rebels fought a 15-year war against Turkish troops for autonomy in Turkey's southeast, which has killed some 37,000 people. The rebels declared a unilateral cease-fire in 1999 after the capture of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan. The military rejected the cease-fire and sporadic fighting continues.

The incident comes as Turkey and the United States have been trying to repair relations strained over the Turkish parliament's refusal in March to allow thousands of U.S. combat troops in the country for an Iraq war.

It was the second time that U.S. forces detained Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq.

In April, the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade caught a dozen Turkish soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes and trailing an aid convoy. U.S. forces suspected that the Turkish team was sent in to inflame local ethnic Turks, who already have tense relations with the city's Kurds and Arabs.

Erdogan said the latest seizures occurred Friday afternoon but did not give details, except to say the detentions came after "an issue over the municipality in Kirkuk."

"The fact that a 50-year-old ally has reverted to such an action has saddened us deeply. That such an action was carried out against an ally is a serious situation," Hurriyet quoted Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, the deputy chief of staff as saying.

Turkish military officials would not comment.

---

The U.S. forces were acting on intelligence reports that some Turks in Kirkuk were planning to assassinate the Kurdish governor of Kirkuk

Intelligence again.. LOL!

Somewhat reminiscent of the US intelligence which classified the pipeline sabotage as a gas leak accident..

Just another way to sabotage trade, done in effect by (those who pose as US) friends.

[a_Turk]

Turkish forces have been in northern Irak for about a decade numbering about 15,000. They have been there to preempt terrorists who infiltrate Turkey proper. The military observers were sent to the cities of northern Irak under agreements with the US about six months ago..

There's more than one way to sabotage a pipeline. Silly for your officials to fall for this "intelligence.."

[MEG33]

We are such a silly country.

[RobbyS]

Don't mess with Texas.

[Destro]

Yea, the same American intelligence that uncovers secret Bosnian Muslim training camps and then covers up for an ally by saying it could have been kids out practice shooting. Or the same American intelligence that arranges for the escape of a Kosovo Albanian Muslim terrorist from Camp Bondsteel, the most heavily fortified place in the Balkans because he was a CIA operative of some sort.

American intelligence always covers up for its Muslim allies, no matter how bad they are.

[a_Turk]

>> We are such a silly country.

No you aren't. You're a great country made up of very good people and very strong institutions.

You're missing my point. As nations which achieve greatness mature, they may end up low hanging fruit for external interests. This happened over and over in history.

Someone pretending your trusty friend is helping deal the final mortal blows to our alliance. If history serves, then there's no way to stop it.

[Cicero]

If Turkey hadn't betrayed us at the start of the Iraqi war, I'm sure we would be more willing to cooperate with them. If they had even just refused to let us use their terroritory, relations would probably still be good.

But they flat-out double-crossed us. They pretended that they were going to cooperate, and they strung us out, and they left a division of troops dangling offshore. Then they pretended that an "unexpected" parliamentary glitch had blocked the expected vote. Later, however, it became obvious that the generals had arranged for this to happen.

There's not much doubt that France bribed or blackmailed the Turks with promises of EU membership and access to the northern Iraqi oilfields. The Turkish leadership chose to go along with the French and Russians rather than with their U.S. allies. As I said, they even agreed to sandbag us.

So, if Turkey now wants to interdict Kurdish terrorism from across the border, they had better learn how to do it from within their own country. We protected their activities while Saddam was in power, but there's no reason for us to do so now.

When a friend deliberately stabs you in the back at an awkward moment, it's not smart to pretend it never happened. Turkey behaved just as badly as France, if not worse, and now they must pay the price.

[a_Turk]

Get over the blasted religion theme already..

[a_Turk]

>> But they flat-out double-crossed us.

But all they did was do what the US did after the first Gulf war. The president made promises, and the congress voted them down. Why is that so bad?

>> When a friend deliberately stabs you in the back at an awkward moment, it's not smart to pretend it never happened.

Yup! Where do you think the PKK terrorists got their weapons? The Menu

[George W. Bush]

Any actions by Turkey in northern Iraq will be dealt with in increasingly severe terms.

We have assigned the north to Poland for peacekeeping. We're not going to let Turks run amok and stir up trouble for our loyal Polish ally.

And Poland is almost certainly regarded as a more valuable and steadfast NATO ally than Turkey is.

[AdvisorB]

I fear for Turkey. As a stalwart supporter of Turkey
against the Soviets (and the Rus Czars) and the
European's who refuse to accept Turkey as a part of
Europe, I'm disappointed with the direction the Turks
have been taking. I fear that we are seeing in Erdogan,
Gul, et al., what we saw in Turkey with the C.U.P.
before the outbreak of WWI. When I see Erdogan, I'm
reminded of Mehmed Talaat and Enver Pasha. Behind all
I see the heavy hand of the Bektahshi (The dervishes,
the turkish equivalent of the moslem brotherhood). And
now we have the Turkish military just as alienated
with us as are the hotheads of the freedom (motherland)
party. I think things will only get worse, just as
they did for the young turks before the advent of the
first World War.

[McGavin999]

The only ones trying to sink the relationship between Turkey and the US is the Islamic party that is currently running Turkey into the ground.

By sucking up to the EU Turkey endangered our troops, made the entire Iraq war harder, sunk their chance at an economic bailout, kept the Turkish military from playing a major part in Iraq, and cut off the economic opportunities that would have come with it. What did they get in return? NOTHING! And they won't be getting anything of france and Germany have anything to say about it, and believe me they do.

[Tacis]

FREE TURKISH OCCUPIED KURDISTAN!!!

Expell the Turkish butchers from all of Kurdisatan.

The US must rethink it's one sided relationship with third world Turkey and its ongoing delusions of empire. Turkey is not our friend and has no role in NATO or in Europe.

Look at the crimes Turkey has committed in Cyprus, the genocide and ethnic cleansing it has done. It will do the same in Kurdistan if we don't block Turkish criminality there.

[a_Turk]

Does the Sultan care what the ship-mice have to say when he sends a ship to Egypt?

We have to cultivate our garden..

[evad]

I'm as piss'd off at the way Turkey left us high and dry as the next guy but the truth is there are two factions in Turkey...one is for us and one is "agin" us.

We better work hard with the one's that are for us and do what we can to neutralize the influence of them what's agin us.

Turkey isn't the french.. they've have been screwing us for decades.

[evad]

And Poland is almost certainly regarded as a more valuable and steadfast NATO ally than Turkey is.

Well perhaps, but not as strategically located.