ANKARA/BAGHDAD, 8 July 2003 — The head of Turkey’s powerful army yesterday fumed over the US arrest of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, saying the incident had triggered the most serious crisis of confidence yet between the two NATO allies. The row further strained US-Turkish relations, already at a low point over Ankara’s refusal to back the war in Iraq.
The arrest of 11 Special Forces officers on Friday and their release two days later also highlighted deep Turkish military concerns about its role in Iraq and its influence at home. Turkey has had small detachments of troops in northern Iraq since the 1990s pursuing Turkish Kurdish separatists.
“It turned into a major crisis of trust between the Turkish and US forces and became a crisis,” the head of Turkey’s powerful military General Staff, Hilmi Ozkok, told reporters. He said the incident touched on “national honor and the honor of the Turkish armed forces”.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told US Vice President Dick Cheney, in their second telephone conversation in two days, he expected those behind the arrests to be brought to account.
Two US soldiers were killed and four wounded in Iraq overnight in a spate of guerrilla attacks which also left at least two Iraqis dead, the US military and witnesses said yesterday. The US administrator hailed the first session of the Baghdad city council as a major step toward democracy in Iraq.
