US military corruption behind weapons in PKK hands, Gül reveals

The US Department of Defense has launched an investigation into US-registered weapons sent to the Iraqi army ending up in the hands the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) based in northern Iraq, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül said on Thursday.
It has been revealed that certain US soldiers were involved in corrupt acts related to the issue of weapons ending up in PKK hands, Gül told reporters at a press conference during an election campaign trip to the central Anatolian province of Kayseri.

“The US side is saying they have launched an internal investigation at the Department of Defense; a corruption incident in which some soldiers were involved has emerged, and the necessary administrative procedures [concerning these soldiers] have been implemented. We are now having discussions with the Iraqi side to determine how the weapons given to the Iraqi army ended up in the hands of terrorists,” Gül said in remarks aired live on NTV.

Former members of the PKK escaping from mountain camps in northern Iraq recently gave testimony in which they told security authorities and prosecutors they had seen US trucks delivering arms to PKK camps. Turkish officials suggested there was other evidence indicating the one-time terrorists’ charges could be accurate, without elaborating.

Gül has already requested a formal explanation from the US over the allegations in a telephone conversation with his US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice. US Ambassador Ross Wilson was also summoned to the Foreign Ministry and shown documents relating to the allegations.

Speaking at a daily briefing earlier this week, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack denied the allegations and declined to comment on contact between Wilson and Turkish authorities, saying he did not know whether he was summoned to the Foreign Ministry or not.

US Embassy Press Attaché Kathryn Schalow, speaking with Today’s Zaman on Thursday following Gül’s latest remarks over the issue, first stressed that Washington considered both the PKK and its offshoot, the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK), to be terrorist organizations, saying the US would not get involved in any kind of contact or relation with terrorists.

“We take very seriously reports concerning US weapons being found in possession of terrorists. We’ve been working closely both with Turkish and Iraqi authorities to investigate the reports,” Schalow said, refusing to comment on an ongoing investigation.

Underlining the importance attributed by the US to “close and effective dialogue with Turkey on this as well as on other issues,” and the US commitment for fighting against PKK “on all fronts,” Schalow did note: “For dialogue to remain frank and effective, it is best not to have them carried out in public forums.”

The PKK is Pro-American

The PKK has steered away from Marxist ideology, and has now become heavily pro-American", representatives from the PKK-affiliated Democratic Solution Party told an American magazine. The article claimed that support for the PKK had grown in the region over recent tensions between northern Iraq and Turkey.


Recent developments regarding the Democratic Solutions Party (KDÇP) -founded by the PKK and its side organisation, PJAK - were reported in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

While representatives of the KDÇP denied being a cloak of the PKK, which the USA, the EU and Turkey have accepted as a terrorist organisation, they stated, "We share the same ideology." KDÇP President, Dr. Fayık Muhammed Golpi, told the magazine, "We were a Marxist organisation. Following the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics we re-evaluated Marxism. Abdullah Öcalan wrote a book about this. We cannot ignore the realities of the period of globalisation. We have chosen democracy and federalism. This is not a tactical move."

Top Turkish commander Büyükanit: Military operation into northern Iraq necessary

Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt yesterday asked for government approval to launch a military operation into northern Iraq to fight outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists, whom he said were accelerating their terror attacks in Turkey.



"An operation into Iraq is necessary," Büyükanıt said. "Would it be useful? Yes, it would. But there needs to be a political decision [for this operation to take place]."
From a military point of view, a (military) operation in northern Iraq must be made, Büyükanıt told a rare news conference, adding that a political decision from the government was first required to authorize such a step.

Holding his first press conference, lasting almost one-and-a-half hours, since taking office almost eight months ago, Büyükanıt attempted to address the latest developments such as PKK terror and leaked documents recently run by political weekly magazine Nokta, which unearthed a memorandum that classified Turkish press members as pro-military and anti-military as well as diaries said to have belonged to former Navy Commander Adm. Özden Örnek that revealed two failed coup attempts organized by the top commanders of the military.

Gen. Büyükanıt described the leaking of the memo -- and confirmed that a noncommissioned officer had been arrested for its theft and then released on bail -- as well as diaries, the existence of which Örnek himself earlier had denied, as attempts to warn the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

The press conference, filled by accredited journalists -- though Büyükanıt during the same press conference criticized such discrimination among journalists -- was aired live and attended by all commanders.

Büyükanıt described the president that the TSK would like to see, since this president will also be Turkey's commander in chief, as someone who should abide by the Turkish Republic's unchangeable principles such as integrity and a secular character not only in words but also in deed.

Büyükanıt's press conference came soon after an interview given by former Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök to the Anatolia news agency during which he neither denied nor confirmed the diaries said to be have belonged to retired Adm. Örnek while throwing the ball into the court of the judicial system.

Özkök was chief of general staff when the alleged coup attempts took place. In the diary Örnek accused Özkök of acting passively against the government and said the planned steps could not be put into motion because of a lack of support from Özkök, who was also described as close to the Islamists in Örnek's diaries.

Turkish PM: US makes no concrete steps against PKK

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan severely criticized America's hesitation in taking measures against terrorism associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Stating the United States appointed a special envoy but has not taken action yet against the PKK in northern Iraq, Erdogan asked if these were delay tactics.

Erdogan pointed out U.S.-origin weapons were found with the terrorists arrested and said, “There has been no positive development in counterterrorism. We are waiting for concrete steps now, we cannot just watch events.”

The prime minister mentioned developments in Iraq, terming the timing and form of Saddam Hussein’s execution as a “provocation.”

He added coalition forces had difficulty in solving the problem, and that Turkey, Iran and Syria were ready for cooperation and a result could be obtained with the contribution of the United States.

Erdogan pointed out events disturbing Turkey take place in Iraq and complained about the terrorist network’s activities in the region.

Erdogan also emphasized establishing Iraq’s territorial and political unity and keeping Kirkuk’s private status was indispensable for Turkey.

“What disturb us most are the terror network’s activities is the U.S. appointed a special envoy but there is no concrete step. We could cooperate with the U.S. and Iraq in combating the terror network but this did not take place. They say they will stifle the terrorist organization’s financial resources. They say there are troubles in other areas and they cannot focus on northern Iraq. Are these delay tactics? We expect serious steps.”

When asked what he meant by serious steps, Erdogan said: “There are camps in the region and the terrorist network is holding activities there. U.S. officials say they closed several offices but we saw they did not. Terrorists enter Turkey and they have U.S.-origin weapons and bombs. We found these with the terrorists that were arrested. I openly said this to U.S. officials. I talked to US President George Bush on the phone after I came back from Riga. We said ‘Let us cooperate against terrorist networks disturbing us if we are strategic partners.’ They think we are right. If we are right, we should act accordingly.”

Concerning the developments in Iraq, Erdogan said the coalition forces have trouble in solving the problem and said neighboring countries may undertake a more active role for the solution.

“Iran and Syria can cooperate with us in this process. Iran says it can do it. We have a consensus with Syria as well. The United States can also contribute in this, what matters here is their decision,” Erdogan said.

Stating Turkey had an important role in the region, the prime minister said, “Countries in the region are having sectarian and ethnic problems. Turkey has no problem with any of these. We meet all of them whether Shiite, Sunni, Kurdish or Arab; we feel no hostility to any of them.”

Stating his visit to Lebanon was part of a Middle East tour, Erdogan said Turkey played a key role in Syria’s withdrawal of its 30,000 troops in Lebanon: “We requested Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to withdraw their troops from Lebanon. He said they would try to do so and do it because we requested it. Turkish President Sezer paid a visit to Syria and they withdrew their troops a week later.”

He also pointed out the form and timing of the execution of Iraq’s ousted leader Saddam Hussein was wrong.

“We are a country that abolished the death penalty, we cannot approve of it. Performing the execution on an Islamic holiday, broadcasting it and things that were said are all provocation. The region has delicate balances, there are sectarian clashes. 650,000 people were killed. Those who died are Muslims, but the coalition forces’ death toll does not even reach 5,000. Over 1.2 million people were killed in Iran-Iraq War. Why do we fall in the same trap? There are claims that the execution would be performed 15 days later but it was predated. This shows there is an authority gap,” Erdogan said.

Turkey sends air ambulances to Turkoman town

After the carnage in Iraq's Armili, Turkey swiftly sent two military air ambulances to Iraq in order to transfer the badly injured to Ankara

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


Turkey yesterday sent two military air ambulances to northern Iraq to transfer to Ankara Turkomans who were seriously wounded during a suicide bombing which killed nearly 150 people in Tuz Khormato on Saturday.

“The military planes will land at a military airstrip in Kirkuk if sandstorms do not hamper them and will transfer about 25 injured to Turkey,” a Turkish diplomat, in charge of coordination said to the Turkish Daily News yesterday, before the planes took off.

According to Turkish diplomats in Iraq, Iraqi and United States officials did not oppose Turkey's proposal and accepted humanitarian aid by facilitating the procedures. The TDN learned that the planes took of from Etimesgut military airport in Ankara, and the injured will be treated in various hospitals in the capital. "The ones who cannot be treated in Iraq will be transferred here", noted the diplomat.

The worst carnage occurred in Armili, a Shiite Turkmen village, 75 kilometers south of Kirkuk, when a suicide bomber detonated a food truck laden with explosives in the central market on Saturday morning. The explosion, which was among the deadliest since the start of the war in 2003 occurred as families had gathered for morning shopping. Nearly 150 were killed, among them 25 children and 40 women. About 250 were wounded.

Ankara, known to be sensitive toward Turkmens, called on Iraqi and U.S. officials to provide swift help over the weekend. The foreign ministry strongly condemned the suicide attack, in a statement issued Saturday. In the statement, Ankara called for the establishment of national cohesion and peace in Iraq without any discrimination of religions, religious sects or ethnic identities.

“For us, the peace of mind of all our brothers in Iraq is the priority and Turkey will make all efforts as part of its responsibility to sustain this," said Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül on Saturday.

Gül said that the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad and the Consulate in Mosul quickly got in touch with officials and met with Shiite Turkmen deputy, Abbas Bayati, and also with a member of the Turkmen Fidelity Movement Seryab Tuzlu.

Armili is a town of 26,000 people, mostly composed of Shiites from Iraq's Turkmen ethnic minority. Tensions are constantly high with Sunni Arabs who dominate the surrounding villages, said Turkish diplomats in Iraq.

In recent months, insurgents linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni Arab extremist groups have targeted Shiite areas across Iraq with suicide bombings

Gül: Ties with US would collapse if arms to PKK claims confirmed

Turkish-US relations would break apart if rumors of US supply of arms to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq are proven correct, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül said.

Former PKK members fleeing camps in northern Iraq have recently said in their testimonies to security officials and prosecutors that members of the terrorist group in Iraq were being supplied with US weapons. Gül earlier said that Turkey has formally requested an explanation from Washington over the claims and officials said Ankara's concerns were not based solely on confessions of the former PKK members.

Asked whether Ankara has evidence to support claims of the former PKK members, Gül said in an interview with private Kanal A television on Sunday night that there has been no confirmation of the charges. "We have not confirmed anything. But there is such an allegation and there are convincing confessions," Gül said, emphasizing that the charges were being investigated. "We have requested information [from the US]."

He said if the US really supplies arms to the PKK, this would eventually be revealed. "If such a thing happens, our relations would break apart," he said. But he added that the allegations could well be part of a plot to undermine Turkish-US ties and said it did not seem logical for the US to supply weapons to the PKK in Iraq openly. "But since there is such an allegation, we have to investigate it," he said.

The foreign minister said Ankara was aware that weapons supplied to the Iraqi army sometimes turned up in PKK hands amid the chaos in Iraq. "Of course the US military and several European countries give weapons to Iraq as there is a new army being built there. Some of these weapons could end up in PKK hands and indeed we found out that some of the PKK weapons seized were those that had been given to the Iraqi army in good faith."

The US classifies the PKK as a terrorist organization and has pledged to take steps to counter the threat it poses to Turkey. But few tangible outcomes have emerged from its fight against the group. Impatient with US slowness, Ankara has warned it could carry out a cross-border operation to strike the PKK bases in northern Iraq.

Gül declined to comment when he was asked whether there could be a cross-border operation in the next month, but added everything could change depending on the circumstances.