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The level of insurgency in postwar Iraq wouldn't be so high if the U.S.-led coalition had been able to invade from the north, through Turkey, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday.

I have just returned from a weeklong visit to the United States. I spoke with many people. The situation is very bad. Anti-Turkish sentiment in the United States is very strong. The rejection of US troop deployment two years ago has once again started to create trouble. Mehmet Ali BIRAND I am sure you heard about the things I will write below from various commentators with varying opinions. It was Sami Kohen who reported on the matter most recently. Well, this time, you will hear it from me. The situation is now bad. It's beyond that. We are facing an...

TURKISH / AMERICAN RIFT By Ali Ferda Sevin, September, 2003 THE longstanding close friendship between Turkey and The US suffered a setback in March 2003 when several forces came together by happenstance to cause it. First, there was the Turkish desire to impress Europe after the European Union (EU) had been dangling carrots in Turkish faces and pulling back just in time to deny Turks entry to the coveted club. In spite of such European condescension (or perhaps, because of it), Turkey remains eager to please the Europeans. Turkish elite opinion has always been infatuated with the "high culture" and...

What do you call the US? Mr... Editor, you illustrate perfectly why Turks and Americans are no longer close friends by any measurement. Do you refer to America as "occupier" and "repressors of Iraq", when covering stories about the $8.5 billion loan guarantee being granted to Turkey, courtesy of the American Tax payer? Not to mention multiple billion dollar grants etc. adnauseam. How many articles will you print about "demands" concerning Turkish business ventures in Iraq, or conditions linked to the PKK that "must" be addressed to Turkish satisfaction. I say the Turks are no longer our (America) friend. By...

ANKARA - Richard Myers, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States wanted to work with Turkey in Iraq, but Turkey will make its own decision on sending peacekeepers to Iraq. Myers, as well as the Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, attended a reception late Thursday in Washington, hosted by the Turkish Armed Forces' attache. Turkey is one of the countries that Washington has requested to send troops to Iraq to help stabilization of the war-torn country. Government officials have signaled that a decision was unlikely to come in September and said Parliament could convene in...

SIXTEEN REASONS NOT TO GIVE AID TO TURKEY SIXTEEN REASONS NOT TO GIVE AID TO TURKEY IN THE FY 2004 FOREIGN OPERATIONS APPROPRIATONS BILL 1. On April 12, 2003, the Congress passed the Administration’s $79 billion Iraq War Supplemental Appropriations Bill. TURKEY receives $ 1 BILLION as part of this bill, and therefore we do not need to give them another $255 million! 2. Turkey’s unreliability as a strategic ally. Turkey’s actions opposing the use of Turkish bases by U.S. troops to open a northern front against the Saddam Hussein dictatorship demonstrated its unreliability as a strategic ally. The Turkish...

U.S. loans to Turkey may be delayed, sources say WASHINGTON, July 15 — Billions of dollars in U.S. loans for Turkey could be held up for months due to concerns about Ankara's slow progress meeting IMF conditions, people briefed by the Bush administration said on Tuesday. President George W. Bush has offered up to $8.5 billion in loans to help Turkey weather the economic shock of the war in neighboring Iraq.

When Turkey refused to help the United States fight the war against Iraq, it did so with some ambivalence. Its parliamentary "no" to the U.S. was hardly enthusiastic and came about partly because Turkey's new Islamist regime caved to Turkish public opinion. The politically important Turkish military, which might otherwise have been inclined to help its old allies in the United States, was angry at the heavy-handed way in which America demanded support; therefore, it declined to lobby much for Washington's request. And some elites in Turkey bemoaned the "no" decision at the time, arguing that it would cost Turkey...

Tue 8 Jul 2003 Turks pull military liaison in protest TURKEY and the United States are rushing into what Turkey’s chief of staff calls the NATO allies’ most serious crisis of confidence after the US detention of Turkish troops in northern Iraq. Despite the troops’ release on Sunday, the Turkish military yesterday withdrew two high-ranking officers serving with US central command in Tampa, Florida. The base is HQ for Iraq operations. Turkish officials said the chief of staff, General Hilmi Ozkok, had also cancelled a visit to Tampa by a senior military commander who was scheduled to attend a handover...

Turkey Says U.S. Main Loser in Iraq Arrests' Incident Tue July 8, 2003 12:29 PM ET By Gareth Jones ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Tuesday the United States had been the biggest loser in a weekend incident involving the arrest of Turkish commandos in northern Iraq which has badly strained ties between the two NATO allies. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, speaking as Washington's top soldier in Europe flew into Ankara to mend fences, repeated Turkey's call for an apology for the three-day detention of the 11 special forces officers. The men were released on Sunday. "It was the United...

The crisis in relations between Washington and Ankara deepened yesterday when Turkey's top general criticised American forces after they uncovered an assassination plot against a US-appointed official in northern Iraq. Although the Americans released 11 Turkish special forces troops detained in the area yesterday, Gen Hilmi Ozkok, Turkey's chief of staff, made a rare attack on his Nato ally. In an extraordinary public rebuke, he told Robert Pearson, the American ambassador, and a watching television audience that the arrests had "led to the biggest crisis of confidence ever between Turkish and US forces". Gen Ozkok's comments signalled that Turkey is...

Wednesday, July 02, 2003 Tamuz 2, 5763 America switches its allegiance to Armenia By Nathan Guttman A ceremony to mark the 80th anniversay of the Armenian holocaust. Armenia says 1.5 million of its people were killed by the Turks in 1915-18. (AP) WASHINGTON - Some 88 years after one and a half million Armenians were slaughtered in Turkey in World War I, members of the Armenian community in the United States feel for the first time that it is possible American Congress will finally recognize the genocide they experienced. A draft resolution that explicitly notes that what happened to the...

STAR- Columnist Zeynep Gurcanli writes on Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal’s visit to the US later this week. A summary of her column is as follows: This will be a critical week for Turkish-US relations. Ankara is striving mightily to mend bilateral relations, which were strained in the wake of Turkey’s refusal of US troop deployments for the Iraq war. This week’s most important event will be Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal’s visit to Washington, where is expected to convey important messages. In particular, he is due to present a letter plus a report to US President George W. Bush....

WASHINGTON D.C. - Turkey shares various concerns of the U.S. about Iran, but it can't give guarantee to U.S. to support it in advance regarding the issues of Iran and Syria. Turkish diplomatic sources in Washington D.C. said on Saturday that Turkey closely monitored the situation in a period in which the relations between the U.S. and Iran were getting tense. ''We express our concerns about weapons of mass destruction, nuclear potential and missiles. Our concerns about these issues are common with the U.S.'' One Turkish diplomat said that when the U.S.'s Iran policy got sharper, Turkey would need to...

<p>NICOSIA, Cyprus — The Turkish government is under increasing domestic pressure to revise its traditionally close relations with the United States, according to diplomatic reports.</p> <p>In comments by Turkish officials to Western diplomats, the longtime alliance between the United States and Turkey is described as being virtually in tatters.</p>

Turkish Attack Helicopter Procurement On Hold Because of Stance in Iraq War (16 May) The loss of the abundant US aid, because of Turkish vacillations during the war against Iraq, is endangering Turkish military procurement programs. The first project so endangered is the attack helicopter program. It was Turkey’s desire to acquire 50 Bell Helicopter Textron AH-1Z King Cobra attack helicopters, as a first phase. Even if funds were to be found, the acquisition of a specialized version tailor made for Turkish requirements would have to be abandoned. In addition, in an effort to further cut the onerous financial burden...

<p>ISTANBUL -- Fallout from Turkey's refusal to assist the United States in the Iraq war is fueling tension between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's liberal pro-Islamist government and the country's staunchly secular establishment, government officials and analysts say.</p> <p>Allegations have been flying between the two traditional foes, with secularists saying the government is incompetent and moving the country away from pro-Western values. Pro-Islamists counter that the establishment is trying to undermine the democratically elected government.</p>

BUSH SAYS IRAQI WAR WAS EXTENDED BECAUSE OF TURKEY WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has again blamed Turkey for a failure of the Pentagon's "shock and awe" strategy against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. U.S. President George Bush said Turkey's refusal to allow American forces to enter that country to form a second front in northern Iraq was a major blow to the coalition against Saddam. Bush said the result was that Saddam was able to concentrate all of his forces around Baghdad. Bush said the absence of a northern front reduced the element of surprise against the Saddam regime....

Kim Burger JDW Staff Reporter, Nick Cook JDW Aerospace Consultant, Andrew Koch JDW Washington Bureau Chief, Michael Sirak JDW Staff Reporter With the regime of Saddam Hussein soundly defeated by overwhelming military force, coalition leaders are analysing what initial lessons can be drawn from Operation 'Iraqi Freedom'. A high-level Pentagon team is already sifting through the data. The team-members will be aware that their conclusions will be leapt upon by proponents of two quite disparate camps: those who will use the war to bolster the process of the military's transformation from a Cold War-era fighting force to one that is...

Last Updated: 04/28/2003 08:59:42 Middle East BUSH SAYS IRAQI WAR WAS EXTENDED BECAUSE OF TURKEY WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has again blamed Turkey for a failure of the Pentagon's "shock and awe" strategy against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. U.S. President George Bush said Turkey's refusal to allow American forces to enter that country to form a second front in northern Iraq was a major blow to the coalition against Saddam. Bush said the result was that Saddam was able to concentrate all of his forces around Baghdad. Bush said the absence of a northern front reduced the element...