U.S. Reportedly Frees 11 Turkish Troops

AP ^ | 7/6/2003 | JAMES C. HELICKE

[a_Turk]

ISTANBUL, Turkey - The United States on Sunday released 11 Turkish special forces detained in northern Iraq (news - web sites), Turkish news reports said, ending a standoff that strained efforts by the NATO (news - web sites) allies to repair relations frayed over the Iraq war.

The soldiers were released in Baghdad, private CNN-Turk and NTV news channels reported. The soldiers will spend the night at a guesthouse before being taken Monday morning to the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah, where they had been captured Friday, the media reported.

The soldiers were released after a bustle of diplomacy that included telephone calls Sunday between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) as well as another between U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

The detention of the Turkish special forces Friday in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah outraged Turkey and deepened the public's mistrust of the United States.

Turkey has long had thousands of its soldiers in parts of northern Iraq to fight autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels who have launched attacks against Turkey from bases in northern Iraq.

After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, it also sent military advisers there to keep watch on Iraqi Kurds. Turkey fears that increasing Kurdish power in northern Iraq could encourage Kurdish rebels to revive fighting in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast.

[Mortimer Snavely]

I posted this on another thread, and it's appropriate here.

By arming Marxist-Leninist and Islamic mass murdering totalitarian swine, enabling them to administer Northern Iraq, and then trying to get the rest of us to think of them as humble, mountain warriors who'd rather be herding goats, the USA is doing one of the most idiotic things it has ever done since orchestrating the assassination of Diem in South Vietnam.

Somehow people at this forum see no problem with this, even understanding the ideologies motivating our Kurdish "friends," who basically created 9-11 style slaughters in Turkey a couple of times a year for about ten years. It's these noble Kurds who popularized the whole explosive vest suicide bomber campaign, killing tens of thousands of just plain folks.

Does anyone really expect the Turks to just sit by quietly and twiddle their thumbs while we arm their sworn enemies and then deride them for hunting down these terrorist scum like mad dogs?

Arming the Kurds was absolutely the single stupidest thing we could ever have done. This will turn out very badly for us.

[Destro]

I supported Kosovo Albanian Rebels? Oh, I guess you mean my country did...granted. But meant I have you on record of being sympathetic to them.

[Destro]

all the Kurdish groups are like the PKK?

[a_Turk]

>> Are the Turks meddling where they shouldn't? Are we over-reacting to make a point?

A couple of US military officials overstepped their boundaries. Had there been any truth to these trumped up charges, the Turks wouldn't be free now.

The only consolation here, I guess, is that the Turks had the discipine not to shoot.

As far as relations with the Turkish military, the Turkish general staff decided to withdraw from CentCom and our Generals won't be attending Tommy Franks' end of tour ceremony.

[dr_who_2]

Screw up? Heck no. It was the Turks who made the mistake in thinking that the U.S. would let them interfere with U.S. operations in Iraq. We have very little reason to trust Turkey, and I'm glad our forces kept the Turkish government guessing about what would happen to their troops for a good long while. They aren't our allies here despite what the State Dept. wants everybody to think.

[dr_who_2]

BTW, these young Turks were cought because the U.S. forces expected them to sneak into Iraq (with a nice stash of extra machine guns, no less) and stir up trouble. It's unfortunate for many of our troops over there that we haven't been as successful at keeping Syria and Iran at bay.

[a_Turk]

LOL!

[Phatheon]

The U.S and Turkey use to be hand in hand commiting some of the most hainous acts the world has seen and helping one another cover it up.

It's ironic and rather humourous to see them at one another's throats now. Please.....continue

[ellery]

Agreed -- it's on par with the CIA training "Palestinian security forces" (terrorists) to "fight terror" (murder Jewish civilians). It's stupid, short-sighted, immoral, inconsistant and unworthy of us to play with terrorists just for the sake of expedience.

[pepsionice]

Turkish 'Special Forces' are just assination squads...pure and simple. Thats their reputation in Turkey, and its well known. If anything goes wrong, they simply kill everyone involved. They don't have much of a positive image.

[BlackVeil]

It is my belief that there will be problems, in Iraqi Kurdistan, in the near future. That is because Kurdish society is tribal, and easily factional and violent (and some very dear friends of mine, who are Kurdish, would fully agree with that and be able to add more details.) It is easy for anyone with an interest to go in and make trouble by engaging one set of Kurds against whatever set we have on side. In fact, you make enemies as fast as you make friends, because an alliance with one Kurdish leader is a fight with his local rival.

[rightofrush]

It depends. If they are being treated as criminally as the Armenians were a hundred years ago, then rebel sounds okay.

The treatment of Kurds by the Turks is second only to the rape of Tibet. The Kurds are the largest ethnic group (outside sub-Saharan Africa) without a nation state - one of the many injustices the UK has done.

[Mortimer Snavely]

It's amazing that people who name themselves after comic book heroes and sci-fi TV shows are taken seriously here.

[Mortimer Snavely]

If you say to yourself, "Bush is a conservative President," "Bush is a conservative President," "Bush is a conservative President," while clicking the heels of your magic ruby slippers together three times it makes everything so much easier to understand.

[Mortimer Snavely]

Read post #21. Better yet, live in a neighborhood where Kurdish homicidal-suicidal psychopaths walked into a crowded department store with napalm under their coats and then detonated it, killing a bunch of people you used to ride on the buses with everyday.

[Mortimer Snavely]

I guess you really believe that. Hell, your handle tells us a lot about what you find believable.

[dr_who_2]

I guess I believe that I really don't care much what I guess you guess you think, if that counts for thinking, come to think of it. And you should pay more attention to your own handle, especially if you're a Turk.

[Mortimer Snavely]

Kurds and Kurdistans

[Mortimer Snavely]

The entire English speaking world is dumbfounded with your sublime logic and fiery intellect.

[dr_who_2]

How often do you speak for the entire English speaking world? Nevermind that. Just follow their lead and be dumbfounded.