Posted on 07/07/2003 3:31:34 AM PDT by a_Turk
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States and Turkey are to take part in a joint investigation over the US arrest of Turkish troops in northern Iraq (news - web sites), the State Department said.
"US and Turkish military and civilian representatives are undertaking an investigation into the facts of the matter," State Department spokeswoman Amanda Batt told AFP.
The Turkish news agency Anatolia reported Sunday that 11 Turkish troops arrested July 3 had now been released.
While the State Department declined to confirm the troops' release, it underlined that Washington and Ankara were "beginning a joint investigation involving US and Turkish military and civilian officials" into the incident.
"We are in close contact with our ally Turkey and we are making progress toward resolving this issue," Batt said.
The 11 Turkish soldiers were reportedly detained by US forces in northern Iraq on Friday.
According to a US administration official on Sunday, soldiers with the US 137th Airborne Brigade had detained 24 people in Sulayminah. The State Department confirmed nine as belonging to Turkey's special operations forces.
The group was detained on "suspicion of involvement in an alleged plot to harm Iraqi civilian officials in northern Iraq," the US official said.
"Others were detained and subsequently released."
All 24 had been transported to Baghdad, the official added, saying no further details as to the detainees' nationality or identity were available.
According to Turkish news reports, the soldiers were to spend the night in a guest house in the Iraqi capital.
On Monday they will be flown by helicopter back to the northern Iraqi town of Sulayminah where they were reportedly seized, the NTV television news channel said, quoting Turkish diplomatic sources.
The State Department said Sunday that US Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) had talked by telephone with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
It was Washington's first acknowledgement that some kind of problem existed since the episode blew up Friday.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) had also spoken to Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul Friday and Saturday, the State Department said.
The same sort of problem that would happen if Turkey decided to protect al-Quaeda for the same sort of reasons the USA protects the PKK.
This is insanely screwed up.
What does that mean? Turkey would be wise not to start shooting US troops.
Intelligence Shows Soldiers' Detention Linked to US Policy on KADEK
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Istanbul CNN TURK Television in Turkish 1400 GMT 06 Jul 03
In their assessments with regard to the US stand concerning the Turkish military presence in Al-Sulaymaniyah, the Turkish intelligence units give prominence to the PKK-KADEK [Workers Party of Kurdistan-Freedom and Democracy Congress of Kurdistan] connection. Analyses conducted in Ankara establish a link between the detention of the Turkish soldiers in the hands of US soldiers in north Iraq and the attack perpetrated against Cemil Bayik, one of the administrators of the organization who met with the Americans some time ago. It is noted, therefore, that there is a link between the Al-Sulaymaniyah raid and the KADEK policy of the United States. A report by Kemal Yurteri follows:
The intelligence units are continuing to conduct assessments with regard to the US stand on the Turkish military presence in north Iraq.
This stand against the 11 members of the Turkish Armed Forces, who were surrounded by armed US soldiers at the building they have been using in Al-Sulaymaniyah for a long time and subsequently detained, is being analyzed in detail by intelligence circles. In their assessments, the intelligence units are establishing a link between the raid against the Turkish military presence and the attack perpetrated against PKK-KADEK administrator Cemil Bayik.
The chain of events that led Ankara to come to this conclusion developed as follows: Bayik, who met with the Americans in north Iraq on 3 June, was attacked on 14 June. During this attack, Bayik was wounded and five of his men were killed. The assailants fled. After the attack, the organization issued internal instructions and asked that Turkey be held responsible for the incident. Bayik is prominent among a few names who are conducting the organization's liaison with US officials in north Iraq. According to an intelligence report, together with Murat Karayilan and Osman Ocalan, Bayik conducted three separate meetings with the Americans in north Iraq, namely in Mosul's Opravil Hotel, in the Dalokaka camp belonging to the organization, and in the Halis township. The Americans picked Bayik as their point of contact in the organization. After these contacts, the organization evacuated two camps and showed that it is complying with US policy. While these developments were taking place, the US soldiers targeted Turkish military presence, and the day the attack on Bayik was heard, US soldiers raided the Turkish building in Al-Sulaymaniyah.
An agreement concluded by the organization with the Americans in mid-June gains special significance in these assessments. According to this accord, KADEK, which is effective in Iranian territory, agreed to supply the US army with information regarding the activities of the Iranian army.
When all these events are taken into consideration, the analysis that the US military initiative against the Turkish military presence in north Iraq is related to the US policy on KADEK emerges to the surface.
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