21
July 2003
2. "Presence of Turkish forces in northern Iraq remains element of friction between Ankara and Washington", Letter from Rumsfeld shows US does not want any confrontation with Ankara but is not convinced that Turkish troops are in northern Iraq just to monitor PKK
3. "Turkey conveys unease to Washington over Osman's membership to Iraqi council", Turkey conveyed its uneasiness to American officials in Washington and Ankara over the membership of Mahmud Osman, who confessed his sympathy and closeness to separatist terror organization Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- renamed the Kurdistan Democratic Kongress (KADEK), to the Iraqi governing council.
4. "Turkey's image soars in Europe after rebuffing the U.S. on Iraq crisis", When Turkey refused to help the United States fight the war against Iraq, it did so with some ambivalence.
5. "Time To Settle Kurdish Issue In Turkey", Since the 1920s, the Kurds have suffered a fierce campaign to deny them their language and culture. Some Kemalist "academics" went as far as claiming that the Kurdish language is just a Turkish dialect that includes dozens of inconsistent and foreign phrases.
6. "Turkey Says U.S. Wants It to Send Troops to Iraq", The Bush administration has asked Turkey's leaders to send troops to Iraq to help stabilize the country, the Turkish prime minister said today.
7. "Greek Cypriots reject Denktash proposal", The Greek Cypriot government on Friday rejected a Turkish Cypriot proposal to give back part of the abandoned city of Famagusta in return for the reopening of the island's former international airport.
8. "PUK opposes deployment of Turkish soldiers in Iraq", The new interim Iraqi governing council was also not in favour of Turkish troops being sent to Iraq, Talabani said.
1. - AFP - "Turkish foreign minister to make fence-mending visit to the United States":
by Francis Curta
ANKARA / July 21, 2003
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will visit Washington this
week on a fence-mending exercise amid continuing mistrust between
the two long-time allies over the situation in northern Iraq.
The visit comes just days after the United States asked Turkey to
contribute troops to a planned international stabilization force in
Iraq.
"The United States demanded soldiers from Turkey for Iraq,"
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a ruling party congress
on Sunday.
"Turkey is improving its strategic partnership with the United
States," the prime minister was quoted by the Turkish Anatolia
news agency as saying.
Turkey's mass-circulation Hurriyet daily reported Sunday that senior
US generals who visited Ankara on Friday had informally asked Turkey
to contribute up to 10,000 soldiers to the planned stabilization force
in Iraq.
Gul, who is also deputy prime minister, is due to meet Wednesday with
congressional leaders and Thursday with Secretary of State Colin Powell
and Vice-President Dick Cheney, the Turkish foreign ministry said.
On Friday, he will hold talks with President George Bush's national
security adviser Condoleezza Rice and address the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy.
Officials here also hinted at a possible meeting with US Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld at a time when relations between the Turkish and US
military -- long-time NATO allies -- have soured following the detention
earlier this month of 11 Turkish soldiers by US forces in northern
Iraq.
The two sides have since sought to paper over differences by holding
a joint "enquiry" into the incident and issuing a joint
statement expressing "regret" over the soldiers' 60-hour
detention.
Turkish army chief, General Hilmi Ozkok, said however the incident
marked a nadir in relations between the two armed forces, and politicians
and press alike have slammed the United States for its "unfriendly
treatment" of a "strategic ally".
Neither side went into details about the incident, but Washington
said the soldiers were detained because of "suspicious activities",
adding that explosives were found at their Sulaymaniyah headquarters.
This followed a similar incident, in April, when US troops arrested
a group of Turkish soldiers, in civilian clothes, who allegedly sought
to smuggle weapons to Turkmens, a Turkic minority, in Kirkuk.
Turkish forces have been deployed in northern Iraq since 1997, both
to monitor a ceasefire between two rival Kurdish groups controlling
the region and to keep an eye on Kurdish rebels from the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), now renamed KADEK, who have set up bases there.
Much of the current distrust stems from Ankara's refusal, in March,
to allow US troops to use Turkey as a springboard to invade northern
Iraq.
Relations further deteriorated when Turkey later threatened to unilaterally
send in more troops to northern Iraq and the United States allowed
Kurdish factions to seize control of the oil-rich towns of Mosul and
Kirkuk.
Turkey fears that growing Iraqi Kurd influence will encourage its
own Kurdish rebels to renew their armed struggle for autonomy -- a
conflict which lasted some 15 years and only abated four years ago
with the capture of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
On Friday, two top-ranking US generals, including the new head of
the command responsible for operations in Iraq, General John Abizaid,
visited Ankara for talks with Turkish counterparts in a bid to soothe
tensions.
The Turkish general staff said in a statement Saturday the two sides
discussed "what can be done jointly againt the activities of
the PKK-KADEK terrorist organization in northern Iraq."
US ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson told reporters the two sides
had agreed to cooperate on the issue.
US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz recently said Washington
was determined to purge the region of the PKK, which both Turkey and
the United States regard as a terrorist organisation.
Ankara is considering offering a partial amnesty to PKK rebels who
turn themselves in, while media reports here suggested that senior
PKK commanders are currently seeking political asylum in western European
countries.
2. - Turkish Daily News - "Presence of Turkish forces in northern Iraq remains element of friction between Ankara and Washington":
Letter from Rumsfeld shows US does not want any confrontation with Ankara but is not convinced that Turkish troops are in northern Iraq just to monitor PKK
Editor's note: Ilnur Cevik was recently in Iraq meeting Turkish, Kurdish and American officials as well as soldiers in Suleymaniyah who were taken away and released by U.S. forces.
July 20, 2003 / By Ilnur Cevik
The presence of Turkish forces in northern Iraq for the past 12 years has always raised eyebrows in western capitals and especially in Washington but Turkey's allies preferred to turn a blind eye and did not raise the issue simply because Turkey allowed the Americans and the British jet fighters to use its Incirlik Air Base to protect the Iraqi Kurds against possible attacks from Saddam Hussein's forces.
However, once the latest Iraq War was over and the American-led coalition forces controlled the country including northern Iraq the status and presence of the Turkish forces there was seriously questioned by U.S. military and civilian officials.
In the past Turkey told its allies that it had to go in an out of northern Iraq to combat its own Kurdish separatist terrorists who had exploited the power vacuum left after Saddam Hussein's forces were forced out of northern Iraq after the first Gulf War.
Turkey frequently sent troops into northern Iraq over the past decade and cooperated with the forces of the Kurdistan Democracy Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) rival administrations that run two different parts of the region.
At times Turkey had as high as 40,000 troops in the region and at times this fell to about 1,500. Turkey also stationed tanks and armored vehicles in the region to combat PKK terrorists.
Before the latest Iraq War the U.S. wanted to open a northern front against Saddam's forces through Turkey but this failed when Turkish Parliament failed to approve a motion to allow deploying U.S. forces in Turkey. Turkey, however, did pass a motion allowing Turkish troops to enter northern Iraq which was met with tough Iraqi Kurdish opposition. The Americans also told Turkey not to send any new troops into the region and further complicate a volatile situation.
Turkish sources say at the time of the Iraq War Turkey had about 1,500-1,800 troops in the north as well as military liaison offices in Erbil and Suleymaniyah. Once the coalition forces took control of the whole of Iraq, American military officials started questioning the legitimacy and status of the Turkish forces in Iraq. They said they would disarm all armed elements in Iraq and that included the PKK militants. However, despite the fact that they disarmed many groups including the Iranian opposition forces and helped the Iraqi Kurds destroy the strongholds of the extremist Islamic militants they have not touched the PKK so far. Ankara says as long as this is not done Turkey will not phase out its military presence in northern Iraq.
The Americans have encouraged Ankara to issue an amnesty for PKK militants and allow them to give up their arms and surrender. They feel this will allow them to disarm the PKK more easily in northern Iraq. Ankara has already presented a draft bill that provides partial amnesty for PKK militants but rejects any pardon for the secessionist leadership.
Meanwhile, a new twist has been added to the issue with the Americans saying the Turkish special forces in the region who are supposed to be monitoring the activities of the PKK are actually more involved in local politics trying to organize the Turkmen minority in Iraq, especially those living in the northern part of the country including the Mosul and Kirkuk areas which have recently been liberated.
It is known that the Turkish military has contacts with the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITC), which had offices in the regions run by KDP and PUK. However, in recent months the ITC has moved to extend its influence into the Kirkuk and Mosul areas controlled exclusively by the American occupation forces. The Americans charge the ITC is a party directly linked to Turkey and thus have very little regard for it as a legitimate representative of the Iraqi Turkmen people.
The Americans reportedly suspect Turkish and Iranian "subversive elements" stationed in northern Iraq are plotting to sabotage peace and stability especially in Kirkuk and say they will not tolerate this.
The local commanders reportedly received tip offs from some Iraqi Turkmens that some officers were trying to recruit people to assassinate some officials in Kirkuk led by the local governor. They raided the Turkish military liaison office in Suleymaniyah and took away 11 officers and non-commissioned officers. After angry exchanges between Ankara and Washington the soldiers were released and were sent back to Suleymaniyah. Turkey demanded an apology.
A joint military panel set up by Ankara and Washington to look into the incident came up with a statement last week that showed sides agreed to disagree. Sides noted the sensitivities of each other and regretted the incident but there were no apologies. The Turkish side "noted" the sensitivities of the Americans about the activities of the Turkish soldiers in Suleymaniyah.
As sides were trying to hammer out the wording of the joint statement U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld sent a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "on behalf of President George W. Bush" stressing the importance the U.S. attaches to continued close ties between Turkey and the U.S. but also drawing attention to the U.S. concerns that at least some of the Turkish soldiers taken into custody by the American occupation forces because there was information that they had been involved in a plot against the coalition activities in northern Iraq. Rumsfeld also said the explosives, arms, timing devices captured during the raid on the Turkish Special Forces liaison building and the fact that those captured were in civilian clothes deepened suspicions that these people were involved in a plot.
The American commander in charge of Kirkuk who ordered the raid on the Turkish office in Suleymaniyah came under fire in Turkey. The commander reportedly wanted to hold a press conference and present the evidence against the Turkish soldiers but was stopped by the Pentagon.
American sources in Iraq told the Turkish Daily News in northern Iraq recently that a series of past events had deepened their suspicions that the Turkish soldiers are not so interested in the PKK but are more involved in political activities to organize the Iraqi Turkmens as a force to counter the Iraqi Kurds. The Americans say this would sow the ground for confrontation between the Kurds and the Turkmens and create havoc especially in Kirkuk, which is a disputed city where both Turkmens and Kurds claim dominance.
The Americans say the fact that a group of soldiers were caught by their forces trying to enter Kirkuk with arms and were handed over to Turkish authorities at the Habur gate, the capture of Turkish officers carrying arms in Red Crescent aid convoys in northern Iraq and a video allegedly showing Turkish officers plotting subversive activities with Turkmens have deepened suspicions that the Turkish soldiers in the region may be working to destabilize the area.
Turkey denies these charges and says its soldiers are in northern Iraq to monitor the PKK. They also deny stocking explosives, timer devices and detonators in their liaison offices.
Observers say Turkey has been unable to convince the Americans that its forces are only in northern Iraq to combat the PKK and stress that the time has come when Ankara has to define in clear terms the mission of its forces in northern Iraq and start phasing them out while transforming its military offices into diplomatic representations.
They say keeping Turkish forces in the region will inevitably cause
new frictions and a repetition of the Suleymaniyah raid may become
inevitable despite pledges on both sides in the recent statement that
Ankara and Washington will cooperate and coordinate to prevent such
incidents.
3. - Turkish Daily News - "Turkey conveys unease to Washington over Osman's membership to Iraqi council":
Ankara / 21 July 2003
Turkey conveyed its uneasiness to American officials in Washington and Ankara over the membership of Mahmud Osman, who confessed his sympathy and closeness to separatist terror organization Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- renamed the Kurdistan Democratic Kongress (KADEK), to the Iraqi governing council.
In order to convey the uneasiness of Turkey over Osman, the Undersecratary of the U.S.'s Embassy in Ankara, Robert Deutch, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
Middle East Director of the Foreign Ministry Tahsin Burcuoglu met with Deutch and conveyed Turkey's reaction over the appointment of Mahmud Osman, who confessed his closeness to separatist-terror organization PKK/KADEK, to the membership of Iraqi Governing Council. According to semi-official Anatolia news agency, similar initiatives and contacts were also realized in Washington.
Kurdish politician Mahmut Osman did not hide his close relations with the terror organization PKK/KADEK and confessed that he has always been a friend of PKK/KADEK.
Speaking to Medya TV, which is broadcasting from Belgium as the official television station of the terror organization, Mahmud Osman made some anti-Turkey statements and claimed, "Turkey is afraid of the possibility that Kurds will strenghten their position in Iraq."
Emmphasizing that he is known as terrorist in Turkey, Osman confessed, "I am always a friend of PKK/KADEK."
Osman had taken an active part in the so-called "Kurdistan parliament
in exile" and "Kurdistan National Congress", which
were set up by some wanted members of the banned Democracy Party (DEP)
and some PKK terrorists.
4. - Los Angeles Times - Washington Post News Service - "Turkey's image soars in Europe after rebuffing the U.S. on Iraq crisis":
By Graham E. Fuller / July 19, 2003
When Turkey refused to help the United States fight the war against Iraq, it did so with some ambivalence.
Its parliamentary "no" to the United States was hardly enthusiastic and came about partly because Turkey's new Islamist regime caved to Turkish public opinion.
The politically important Turkish military, which might otherwise have been inclined to help its old allies in the United States, was angry at the heavy-handed way in which America demanded support; therefore, it declined to lobby much for Washington's request.
And some élite in Turkey bemoaned the "no" decision at the time, arguing that it would cost Turkey at least $6 billion in U.S. grants and would lose it a place at the table in presiding over post-war Iraq.
But over time, Turks have grown much more comfortable with their rebuff to Washington, which seems to have had several positive effects. For one thing, Turkey's "no" vote raised the country's stock in Europe as a potential EU candidate, as it showed that Ankara is indeed no mere stalking horse for U.S. interests.
For another, the Arab world, whose population was extraordinarily hostile to the war, watched its own leaders accede to Washington while Turkey's democracy reflected and legitimised its anti-war vote - a forceful lesson to Arabs about the legitimising power of democratic institutions. Although the Bush administration can be angry about Turkey's lack of support, it can hardly punish the country over the parliamentary vote in a genuinely democratic process.
Turks as a whole feel more empowered and independent because of these events.
Indeed, many Turks who had feared their country had lost a golden opportunity in not co-operating with Washington on Iraq have learned that there indeed was no "table" in post-war Iraq at which benefits of occupation might have been parcelled out; control has been tightly retained in Washington.
And Turkish discontent with Washington has risen further since the United States refused to let Turkey become involved in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq after the war. In U.S. eyes, any Turkish presence in this sensitive area would only lead to a Turkish-Kurdish confrontation.
Turks were further disappointed with the U.S. failure to stop Kurdish forces from moving into the Kirkuk region, which Turkey said was an unacceptable extension of Kurdish power into the oil zone that strengthened Kurdish self-reliance and autonomy.
Turkey deeply fears that a Kurdish state - or even a federalised Iraqi state - would stimulate demands for greater autonomy among Turkey's own large Kurdish population.
During a recent trip to Turkey I heard widespread suspicions about U.S. intentions; many fear that Turkey itself might be the next victim of some unspecified power play as Washington boldly re-shapes the region.
Anti-Americanism is running high and has led to an unprecedented informal coalition between the Turkish left and Turkish right-wing nationalists. These groups are united in their hostility toward the United States and see entry into the European Union as a compromise of Turkish sovereignty. Ironically, the Islamists remain champions of the EU bid. All this represents a dramatic transformation.
As if these things were not enough, U.S. forces early this month arrested 11 members of Turkey's special forces in Iraq on suspicion of planning to assassinate the Kurdish leader of Kirkuk. The facts have yet to emerge, but the rough and unfriendly treatment these officers received created a firestorm in Turkey. Why, Turks have asked, did the United States not communicate to an ally any misgivings about intelligence it may have received?
Washington is widely perceived in Turkey as a rogue actor with arrogant and hostile intentions toward basic Turkish national interests. Although not all of this may be accurate, perceptions are everything.
Ankara is discussing whether its future lies any longer with Washington, or perhaps instead with some emerging coalition of the European Union and other major regional powers such as Russia, China and India - countries that actively seek to balance what they see as unbridled U.S. power.
The writer is former vice chairman of the CIA's National Intelligence
Council and author of "The Future of Political Islam."
5. - Al-Hayat - "Time To Settle Kurdish Issue In Turkey":
By Nouri Taleb / 19 July 2003
The modern republic of Turkey was established in 1923 by Mustapha Kemal, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The entire Anatolian society, including the Kurds, helped found modern Turkey. And when the Grand Assembly was opened in Ankara, the number of Kurdish deputies was higher than 70. Kemal had promised the Kurds extensive self-rule prerogatives if they helped him defeat the Greek invaders. The Kurds represent one third of Turkey's population, and they are the second largest national group. They live in their own regions, to the south of the country.
The letters that were exchanged between Kemal and the Kurdish leaders before 1923, in addition to official documents regarding the recognition of Kurdish self-rule, are kept in the secret archives of Turkey. Some were revealed in the early 1980s. Kemal withdrew from his promises and waged a fierce war against the Kurds. He destroyed many of their villages and executed over 40 of their leaders. Moreover, the Kemalist regime forced tens of thousands of Kurdish villagers to settle in the Western parts of Turkey. Since then, the Turks have been calling the Kurds "Mountain Turks," who speak a strange language because they forgot their original Turkish language.
Official Ottoman records show that Kurdish emirates enjoyed full independence, and that the Kurds were committed to provide assistance to the Sultan in the event of war against a foreign enemy. The total denial of the Kurds by the Kemalist regime continued for some 60 years, until the former president, the late Turgut Ozal, eased some of the many restrictions imposed on them. He allowed them to speak their language openly. And for the first time, it was announced that the number of the Kurdish population in Turkey exceeded 20 million.
Since the 1920s, the Kurds have suffered a fierce campaign to deny them their language and culture. Some Kemalist "academics" went as far as claiming that the Kurdish language is just a Turkish dialect that includes dozens of inconsistent and foreign phrases.
The new rulers of Turkey were forced to recognize some of the simple Kurdish rights, such as using their language and study it in private schools. This recognition came as a result of pressures from European countries and human rights organizations. But as far as implementing the laws that came to support these rights, there need to be a good will on behalf of the government, which to this day remains lacking. And while the leader of the current ruling party has some Islamic roots, the party and its leader have yet to regard the Kurdish issue differently.
The leaders of the ruling party in Turkey should look back at history and examine its records. They should ponder how ancient alliances between the Seljuks and the Kurds led to subordinating Asia Minor, and how the leadership of the Kurdish Salaheddine Al Ayubi succeeded in evicting the Crusaders from the Middle East. Moreover, the Kurds enjoyed many privileges when they joined the Ottoman Empire, until the arrival of the committee of union and Progress with its extreme Turanian ideals. The new rulers of Turkey should review the Kurdish issue, and view the Kurds as a people that seeks to enjoy its legitimate national rights, with its own specific language and culture, and wants to live peacefully in a democratic state.
Thus, in response to the appeal that the leaders of the Kurdish movement made a few months ago, to the effect that they were ready to disarm and resolve pending problems on the negotiations table, the government shouldn't have issued a brittle law that conceals an implicit pardon. The Kurds do not need such pardon. They raised their arms only to defend themselves and their identity. They never committed crimes against civilians. The Baathist regime in Iraq oppressed them, evicted them from their villages and used chemical weapons against them. But the Baathist regime was ousted and the Kurds continue to exist. The same can be said for the Palestinian people.
And if Arab officials find that it is justified for them to seek the help of the U.S. to resolve the Palestinian problem, the Kurds also have the right to seek the intervention of the U.S. and other countries to help resolve their problem with Turkey.
Resolving the Kurdish conflict in Turkey will lead to peace and stability in Iraq, Turkey and the entire region. And the U.S., because of the influence it has in this part of the world, could play a significant role toward that end by exerting pressure on Turkey and the Kurdish party to sit together around the negotiations table, to agree on the full recognition of the Kurds' national rights. Such a move would facilitate Turkey's entry to the European Union, and bring stability to the entire region.
Nouri Taleb is a law researcher from Kurdistan Iraq.
6. - The New York Times - "Turkey Says U.S. Wants It to Send Troops to Iraq":
ISTANBUL / By DEXTER FILKINS / July 21, 2003
The Bush administration has asked Turkey's leaders to send troops to Iraq to help stabilize the country, the Turkish prime minister said today.
Such a request, if confirmed, would come during a period of exceptional tension between the two longtime allies. Earlier this month, American soldiers detained 11 Turkish troops in northern Iraq on the suspicion that they were trying to kill an American-backed Iraqi official.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today in a speech that the United States had asked the Turks to send soldiers into Iraq as part of a proposed multinational force to help the Americans maintain order there.
Mr. Erdogan offered few details of the request or whether his government might grant it. Hurriyet, a leading daily newspaper here, said today that the Americans had asked the Turks to send 10,000 troops to Iraq. It cited unidentified sources.
An American official in Ankara, the capital, would not confirm Mr. Erdogan's assertion but said the two countries had discussed the issue during a visit by senior American military officers here last Friday.
The Bush administration has been searching for allies to pick up some of the burden there. Last week, the government of India said it would not send peacekeeping troops to Iraq unless they operated under the auspices of the United Nations. France rejected a similar request.
Relations between the United States and Turkey, which have been NATO
allies since 1952, have been through their roughest spell in years.
In March, Turkey rejected an American request to allow thousands of
troops to use the country as a base from which to launch a northern
front against Saddam Hussein.
7. - Reuters - "Greek Cypriots reject Denktash proposal":
July 21, 2003
The Greek Cypriot government on Friday rejected a Turkish Cypriot proposal to give back part of the abandoned city of Famagusta in return for the reopening of the island's former international airport.
Greek Cypriot officials said President Tassos Papadopoulos had sent a letter to Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash saying he was willing to return to negotiations over the divided Mediterranean island only on the basis of a U.N. plan which has been rejected by Denktash.
"The letter will be delivered today," government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides told Reuters on Friday. Earlier in the day Foreign Minister George Iacovou said Papadopoulos had made it clear the Greek Cypriot side would resume talks only under the U.N. blueprint to end almost 30 years of division.
Iacovou said the Cyprus government felt that Denktash's proposal was designed to "confuse and mislead."
When Denktash made the surprise proposal on July 11, Turkey simultaneously announced it would open its air and sea ports to Greek Cypriot traffic if Nicosia agreed to the Turkish Cypriot offer.
Nicosia airport was abandoned in 1974 after Turkey invaded following a Greek Cypriot coup backed by Greece. It now lies in the U.N.-controlled buffer zone.
Under sanctions since 1974, Turkish Cypriots use a small airport near Nicosia where only planes from Turkey land. By contrast, the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot side operates a bustling international airport at Larnaca which is a hub linking western airlines to Middle East markets.
Denktash also offered to open up the Famagusta suburb of Varosha to resettlement by its mainly Greek Cypriot residents. Varosha is a crumbling ghost town on the island's east coast frequented only by U.N. peacekeepers and Turkish soldiers since it was abandoned after the coup.
Greek Cypriots had reacted coolly to the Turkish offer from the start, calling it an attempt to entrench partition.
Ethnic Greeks and Turks have lived apart since the invasion, despite
decades of international pressure to reunite. Ankara still keeps 30,000
troops in northern Cyprus.
8. - MSNBC - "PUK opposes deployment of Turkish soldiers in Iraq":
July 21, 2003
The new interim Iraqi governing council was also not in favour of
Turkish troops being sent to Iraq, Talabani said.
One of the main Kurdish factions in Northern Iraq has come out against
a US proposal to deploy Turkish forces in the region, saying it was
a move to end the autonomous administration in the area.
Turkey has already said that it wants to have the federal form of
administration abolished in Northern Iraq, the leader of the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Jelal Talabani said in an interview with
NTV.
“They have already stated what they want to if they enter Northern
Iraq,” he said. “They want to take the weapons from the
peshmerges (Kurdish militia), abolish the federal administration and
the Kurdish parliament.”
Speaking on the fringe of the Socialist International meeting in Rome,
Talabani said there was no way Turkish troops would be allowed into
Northern Iraq.
“If they have intentions to serve in other parts of Iraq than
our region, let God help them,” he said.
The PUK leader said that there were some groups in Turkey who were
trying to blacken his name and, though not naming them, also claimed
these groups were supplying arms to the minority Turkomen community
in Northern Iraq under the guise of humanitarian aid.
Talabani also denied any involvement in the arrest on July 4 of 11
Turkish soldiers carrying out monitoring duties in the Northern Iraqi
town of Suleymaniyah by US troops. He said that neither he nor his
son were in the town at the time of the incident.
“If we knew of it in advance we would have kindly asked Americans
not to do it,” he said of the arrests.