TURKEY: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erodgan says relations with U.S. are tested and defends his nation's planned military incursion against Kurdish militants

Record ID: 217311

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erodgan says relations with U.S. are tested and defends his nation's planned military incursion against Kurdish militants
  • Date: 13th October 2007
  • Summary: (EU) ISTANBUL, TURKEY (OCTOBER 12, 2007) (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN ARRIVING ON MEETING
  • Embargoed: 28th October 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAEWVQBJLS0Q43SA2EI2TVLRU96
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erodgan says relations with U.S. are tested and defends his nation's planned military incursion against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.
    Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday (October 12) relations between Turkey and the United States were in danger over a resolution branding as genocide massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915.
    The approval of the resolution by the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday came as relations between the NATO allies were already being undermined by Ankara's plans for a possible incursion into northern Iraq to tackle separatist Kurdish rebels based there.
    Commentators said Erdogan was playing to the domestic crowd in criticising the United States over the resolution, to which Ankara has already responded by calling back its ambassador for consultations, and with sharp criticism.
    The resolution, which is non-binding, now has to go the House floor.
    Turkey denies a genocide was carried out, saying Turks and Armenians were killed in World War One as the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Charges of genocide, backed by Armenians and several countries' parliaments, are seen as a national insult.
    The influential and popular army, which is critical of Erdogan's government, has been calling for an operation into northern Iraq for months.
    The United States has warned against such an operation into northern Iraq -- permission for which is likely to be sought from parliament next week -- fearing it will destabilise Iraq's most peaceful area and potentially the wider region.
    But Turkey is becoming frustrated as the number of Turkish soldiers killed by militants continues to rise.

    "We don't need anyone's advice on northern Iraq and the operation to be carried out there," he told the crowd, to loud applause, having earlier said the United States came tens of thousands of kilometres to attack Iraq without asking anyone for permission.
    Turkey is a key ally for the United States in the region and Washington relies on Turkey as a logistical centre for the war in Iraq. But surveys show U.S. popularity has fallen partly because of the war, while newspapers often run stories suggesting the United States is supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels who use northern Iraq as a base.
    Referring to relations with the United States, Erdogan, using a Turkish idiom usually employed to describe relations, said: "Where the rope is worn thin, it may break off."
    The crowd of supporters broke into applause.
    Washington, which labels the PKK a terrorist organisation, has repeatedly pledged to help Turkey fight the PKK, which is blamed for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the start of its independence campaign in 1984.
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