TURKEY HAD TO SEND 100,000 TROOPS TO IRAQ BORDER TO GET US ATTENTION-PARTY CHIEF
Anatolia News Agency
Jan 31 2008
Turkey
WASHINGTON, D.C. (A.A) -Suat Kiniklioglu, a deputy of the Justice and
Development (AK) Party, said Wednesday that "if the Armenian resolution
had been adopted in the US Congress and Turkey had entered Iraq to
eradicate terrorist PKK organization, there would have been immense
damage to strategic relations between Turkey and the United States."
Speaking on Turkish-American relations at the Rumi Forum in Washington,
D.C., Kiniklioglu stressed that "Turkey had to send 100,000 troops
to the Iraqi border in order to get the attention of US"
"Intelligence sharing by the US contributed to bilateral relations
after the visit paid by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
to Washington, D.C. on November 5th, 2007," Kiniklioglu remarked.
"Rational decisions made by the US and results gained after the
intelligence sharing contributed to positive feelings of Turks towards
the United States. The anti-American sentiments in Turkey were not
caused by the culture of the US but by its policies," Kiniklioglu said.
Asked about the end of a ban prohibiting girls from wearing headscarves
in Turkish universities, Kiniklioglu emphasized that "the issue of
headscarf is a personal one and a right of girls."
From: Baghdasarian