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BeBro
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of the Krauts
Mar 2000
time: 06:28
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I hope there isn´t another thread ´bout it
From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3048624.stm
quote:
Turkey takes soldiers crisis to Cheney
The Turkish Government says it is taking its complaint about the alleged detention of 11 of its soldiers by American forces to US vice-president **** Cheney.
After a crisis meeting overnight between prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and senior officials, government spokesman Cemil Cicek said Mr Erdogan would speak to Mr Cheney on the phone at 1345 GMT on Sunday.
Reports that Turkish special forces troops were detained in the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday has provoked outrage in Turkey.
But there has been no official word from Washington, and uncertainty continues about the Turkish soldiers' fate.
Around 100 US soldiers are said to have stormed a barracks used by Turkish troops in Sulaymaniyah, arresting 11 soldiers and six civilians.
Turkish newspapers suggested the troops were detained on suspicion of planning an attack on a regional governor.
"It's a totally ugly incident, it's something that shouldn't have happened," said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.
The prime minister added that some of the soldiers had been released.
But his foreign minister Abdullah Gul contradicted this shortly afterwards.
He said he had spoken by phone to US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Saturday, and had been told the soldiers were being held in Baghdad.
Government spokesman Cemil Cicek said the discussion between Mr Erdogan and Mr Cheney on Sunday would help the two allies put the dispute behind them.
"We hope that there will be no more unacceptable events like this," he said.
Soured relations
Turkey has threatened unspecified retaliation for the alleged detentions.
Turkey's NTV television station said Ankara was considering closing its airspace to US military flights, stopping the use of the southern Incirlik air base and sending more troops into northern Iraq.
For decades, Washington regarded its Nato ally as a firm friend, but the war in Iraq created unprecedented tension between them.
Relations soured when Turkey refused to allow US forces to be stationed on its territory in the run-up to the conflict in Iraq.
The BBC's Ankara correspondent, Jonny Dymond, says northern Iraq is still perceived by Turkey as part of its sphere of influence.
Ankara has long feared the creation of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq which could encourage separatist aspirations among its own Kurdish population.
Since the end of the war, most Iraqi Kurdish leaders have stuck to the line that they are seeking autonomy rather than outright independence.
But several thousand Turkish troops have remained within northern Iraq, ostensibly to keep track of the movements of Turkish Kurdish guerrillas.
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I was quite busy during the last days, didn´t read much news, so I have no idea what to make of it.
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Apolyton Time is 00:28. |
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06-07-2003 14:53
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