AI
Tuesday, March 25, 2003 6:15:25 PM
BREAKING NEWS:U.S. fails to persuade Turkey on Iraq
[ED: Get ready for a war within a war. Before you know it the wholre region will be up in chaos. Bush should be arrested and tried for war crimes against humanity for starting World War III.]
Foreign minister says troops may create zone inside north
Turkish soldiers drive their tanks past the port of the southern Turkish city of Iskenderun on Monday.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/886517_asp.htm?0cv=CB10
MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
ANKARA, Turkey, March 25 — The United States, eager for stability in northern Iraq to marshal a possible second front against Baghdad, apparently failed Tuesday in a bid to talk Turkey out of sending troops into the Kurdish-controlled area. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Ankara will send forces up to 12 miles into northern Iraq to deal with any flood of refugees, but will only move if a crisis develops.
WASHINGTON FEARS that Turkish forces could end up clashing with local Iraqi Kurdish fighters or engaging in friendly fire accidents with U.S. forces.
Gul said Turkey was determined to act to avoid a flood of refugees. Following the 1991 Gulf War, hundreds of thousands of starving, freezing Iraqi Kurds fled Saddam Hussein’s forces for the Turkish border, creating a humanitarian disaster for Turkey.
Gul said Turkey was looking to create a 12-mile zone on the border.
“We want to keep all of the refugees there. This is very clear,” he said in an interview in his office.
“This is not a populated area and this area ... is for security reasons,” Gul said. “If the need is there, this is our plan.”
When asked how many soldiers Turkey would send in, Gul said: “It depends on the need.”
Gul said Turkish and U.S. officials were discussing the Turkish plans.
U.S. ENVOY
U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was in Ankara on Tuesday for talks with Turkish officials.
A senior U.S. official said the goal of Khalilzad’s talks is to keep Turkish troops out of northern Iraq. The official said Washington is offering to work to contain any refugee flow in order to keep Turkish forces out of the region.
Khalilzad pledged to continue the discussions.
“These are difficult and complicated issues,” he said.
In addition to a flow of refugees, Turkey also fears that the fall of Saddam Hussein could lead to the creation of an independent Kurdish state in Iraq.
That could boost the aspirations of Turkey’s Kurdish rebels, who fought a 15-year war for autonomy in southeastern Turkey.
Meantime, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Henry P. Osman arrived in Irbil in Kurdish controlled-northern Iraq on Sunday. Osman is Commanding General, II Marine Expeditionary Force, and was previously an officer on the Joint Staff heavily involved in the war on terror.
Osman is likely to command a joint force with a lead element of Marines from Camp LeJeune, N.C. It remains unclear how large and what its mission will be.
A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Osman would outrank Kurdish generals “thereby insure that the U.S. determines what the future of Kurdistan will be.”
The official also hinted that moving a Osman into Kurdish territories was part of the deal with the Turks.
[ED: Get ready for a war within a war. Before you know it the wholre region will be up in chaos. Bush should be arrested and tried for war crimes against humanity for starting World War III.]
Foreign minister says troops may create zone inside north
Turkish soldiers drive their tanks past the port of the southern Turkish city of Iskenderun on Monday.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/886517_asp.htm?0cv=CB10
MSNBC NEWS SERVICES
ANKARA, Turkey, March 25 — The United States, eager for stability in northern Iraq to marshal a possible second front against Baghdad, apparently failed Tuesday in a bid to talk Turkey out of sending troops into the Kurdish-controlled area. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Ankara will send forces up to 12 miles into northern Iraq to deal with any flood of refugees, but will only move if a crisis develops.
WASHINGTON FEARS that Turkish forces could end up clashing with local Iraqi Kurdish fighters or engaging in friendly fire accidents with U.S. forces.
Gul said Turkey was determined to act to avoid a flood of refugees. Following the 1991 Gulf War, hundreds of thousands of starving, freezing Iraqi Kurds fled Saddam Hussein’s forces for the Turkish border, creating a humanitarian disaster for Turkey.
Gul said Turkey was looking to create a 12-mile zone on the border.
“We want to keep all of the refugees there. This is very clear,” he said in an interview in his office.
“This is not a populated area and this area ... is for security reasons,” Gul said. “If the need is there, this is our plan.”
When asked how many soldiers Turkey would send in, Gul said: “It depends on the need.”
Gul said Turkish and U.S. officials were discussing the Turkish plans.
U.S. ENVOY
U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was in Ankara on Tuesday for talks with Turkish officials.
A senior U.S. official said the goal of Khalilzad’s talks is to keep Turkish troops out of northern Iraq. The official said Washington is offering to work to contain any refugee flow in order to keep Turkish forces out of the region.
Khalilzad pledged to continue the discussions.
“These are difficult and complicated issues,” he said.
In addition to a flow of refugees, Turkey also fears that the fall of Saddam Hussein could lead to the creation of an independent Kurdish state in Iraq.
That could boost the aspirations of Turkey’s Kurdish rebels, who fought a 15-year war for autonomy in southeastern Turkey.
Meantime, Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Henry P. Osman arrived in Irbil in Kurdish controlled-northern Iraq on Sunday. Osman is Commanding General, II Marine Expeditionary Force, and was previously an officer on the Joint Staff heavily involved in the war on terror.
Osman is likely to command a joint force with a lead element of Marines from Camp LeJeune, N.C. It remains unclear how large and what its mission will be.
A senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Osman would outrank Kurdish generals “thereby insure that the U.S. determines what the future of Kurdistan will be.”
The official also hinted that moving a Osman into Kurdish territories was part of the deal with the Turks.
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