The Guardian, UK
Oct 14 2007
US tries to halt Turkey attack
Diplomats fly to Ankara to stop military move against Iraqi Kurds
after ‘genocide’ resolution
Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor
Sunday October 14, 2007
The Observer
Senior US officials were engaged last night in last-ditch efforts to
persuade Turkey not to launch a major military incursion into Iraqi
Kurdistan to target armed separatists.
A team was diverted from a mission to Russia to make an unscheduled
stop in Ankara yesterday. Against the background of the escalating
diplomatic row between Turkey and the US over a congressional
resolution that branded as ‘genocide’ massacres of Armenians by
Ottoman Turks in 1915, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice,
revealed she had personally urged Turkey to refrain from any major
military operation in northern Iraq. The row between the two Nato
allies comes against the dangerous background of a threat by the
Turkish parliament to approve this week a ‘hot pursuit’ of the
Kurdish separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, across the
border into northern Iraq.
The threat of military action came after last Sunday’s killing by the
PKK of 13 Turkish soldiers in an ambush in Sirnak province, close to
the Iraqi border.
‘I urged restraint,’ said Rice, on a visit to Moscow, acknowledging
‘a difficult time’ between the two countries as she described her
telephone conversations with Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul, its
Prime Minister and foreign minister.
‘It’s a difficult time for the relationship,’ Rice said. ‘We just
thought it was a very good idea for two senior officials to go and
talk to the Turks and have reassurance to the Turks that we really
value this relationship.’ Rice said that in her conversation with the
Turks ‘they were dismayed’ by the congressional resolution. ‘The
Turkish government, I think, is trying to react responsibly. They
recognise how hard we worked to prevent that vote from taking place.’
About 60,000 Turkish troops are based near the northern Iraqi border.
US military officials have said they believe they will get some
warning if the Turks attack the PKK.
Rice’s phone conversations came as two senior US officials flew to
Turkey yesterday to attempt to defuse tension that has seen the
Turkish ambassador to Washington return home for consultations
following the resolution, which Turks regard as deeply offensive.
US Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried and US Under Secretary of
Defence Eric Edelman flew from Moscow, where they had been
accompanying Rice. It was reported that Edelman said on his arrival
they were visiting Turkey to express regret over the approval of the
resolution. The pair are likely to hear sharp criticism from the
Turkish government.
‘They are sure to raise the northern Iraq issue, but from our
perspective the top issue is the Armenian resolution,’ a Turkish
diplomat said. The row between the two allies follows the decision by
the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives to
approve a resolution labelling the 1915 killings genocide, rejecting
appeals by President Bush. Turkey denies genocide but says many died
in inter-ethnic fighting in an issue that is still deeply sensitive
to Turks.
Turkish officials say foreign ministry and military officials met
after the resolution was approved to discuss potential measures
against the US. In initial repercussions, a US visit by Trade
Minister Kursad Tuzmen was cancelled, along with a conference being
held by the Turkish-US Business Council.
Other potential moves may include blocking US access to Incirlik air
base, cancelling procurement contracts, scaling down bilateral
visits, denying airspace to US aircraft and halting joint military
exercises, say analysts and diplomats.
The US relies heavily on Turkish bases to supply its war effort in
Iraq. Ankara has long complained Washington has not done enough to
crack down on PKK rebels who use northern Iraq as a base to attack
Turkey. The PKK said on Friday its guerrillas were crossing back into
Turkey to target politicians and police after the prospect of a
cross-border military operation emerged. Turkey blames the PKK for
the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the group launched its
armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in south-east Turkey in 1984.