Turkey warns US on northern Iraq

[oldhat]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3653868.stm

Turkey warns US on northern Iraq

The US has been pounding Talafar, a suspected haven for insurgents.

Turkey says it will end cooperation with the US in Iraq if the Americans continue with their offensive in the northern Iraqi town of Talafar.

Ankara is concerned about the plight of the large Turkmen population there, some of whom have been killed.

US and Iraqi troops last week began a major operation against Talafar - a suspected haven for foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria.

On Friday Turkey's foreign ministry urged the US to halt the offensive.

"What is being done there is harming the civilian population, that it is wrong," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Monday.

[LiberalVoice]

1. Way to go turkey...

Stick up for your brethren while this has been happening to innocents all over the fucking country for over a year. Asshats.

[alittlelark]

2. My friend Nina is from Turkey

Her family HATES the US. They want her to come home.

90% of Turk's HATE US. Not US per se, but our *shoinian policies.

[oldhat]

3. 90% of Turks don't...

..."hate" the US, but something like 95% didn't support the Iraq war.

[alittlelark]

5. Been chattin lately?

Nina's family and all the news sources appear to say that we are on the next cruscade.

[oldhat]

6. Er...

"Nina's family" isn't synonymous with "Turkish public opinion."

[Voice_of_Europe]

9. You sure?

yeah.. go ahead.. ignore it all.

Nina may not represent whole Turkey, but at least she is a genuine source.
To me that weighs much more than some second hand manipulative poll.

Maybe you should try and board an airplane that takes you to some other continent on this world and check the world opinion for yourself.

[hughee99]

11. I guess the Turkish lady I work with

and her family is in the 5 or 10% that doesn't hate America. I didn't even have to board a plane to find this out.

[0007]

4. ...but...but ..... I thought the Turks and the Uncle Same were good buds?

[xchrom]

7. turkish treatment of ethnic kurds

leaves me little sympathy for anything they might say...
other than that, it is a prime example of the increased number of international fault lines that bushco has managed to create -- the entire admin is a miserable failure.

[Red Fox]

8. Hypocrite

"What is being done there is harming the civilian population, that it is wrong," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Monday.

It's been like that since this war started, maybe he should get out of under his rock and not just care when it's Turkey that's involved.

[Barrett808]

10. Juan Cole: Has the US been Fighting Turkmen?

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul revealed that he threatened the US over its treatment of Turkmen in Iraq when he talked to Secretary of State Colin Powell. The Scotsman writes,

' 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.” '

The Scotsman also notes of the US operation in Tal Afar (mainly inhabited by Shiite Turkmen: "Reports from the area said that several ethnic Turks were killed or wounded in the operation, while thousands more were forced to flee."

Al-Hayat says that the Turkmen Front accused the US of abetting the Kurds in forcing Turkmen out of the city, and aiding Kurds to resettle there. The US military maintains that it was acting at the behest of local leaders, who said that Sunni Arab fighters had taken over the city and were displacing Turkmen Shiites.

...

' Some, many, or most of the guerillas in Tal Afar are in fact Turkmen. ... No wonder the Turkish government is so angry. My God, we are fighting Turkmen in Iraq! What a disaster!


(more)

http://www.juancole.com/2004_09_01_juancole_archive.html#109512972335016668

[struggle4progress]

12. kick

:kick: