Iraq Slams Turkey for Extending Mandate of U.S., British Troops

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 30, 2001

Iraq Slams Turkey for Extending Mandate of U.S., British Troops

Iraq on Saturday blasted a decision by the Turkish parliament this month to extend the mandate for warplanes of the United States and Britain to continue to use its base to enforce the no-fly zone in northern Iraq.

"The Iraqi government denounces the decision by the Turkish parliament and government of extending the mandate of the enemy forces which have continuously attacked Iraq, killed Iraqi people and threatened Iraq's national security," said an Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The Turkish move contradicted with the United Nations Charter, the International Law, as well as norms of good neighborhood, the spokesman said. "The Iraqi government holds the Turkish government legally and internationally responsible for the damage of the aggressions by the enemy forces in Turkey," the spokesman said.

However, the spokesman stressed that Iraq was keen to develop good-neighborly relations with Turkey. The Turkish parliament on December 25 voted in consensus to extend the mandate for the U.S. and British planes in Turkey for another six months, starting from December 31, 2001.

Turkey has been hosting U.S. and British planes to monitor Iraq's northern no-fly zone which was set up by the U.S.-led Western coalition in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in northern Iraq from the persecution of the Iraqi government. A similar air exclusion zone was also set up in southern Iraq to protect the Shiite Muslims there.

Iraq does not recognize the two no-fly zones and has often condemned Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for being partners of the U.S. and Britain in attacking the northern and southern parts of the country.

Turkey Concerned Over Possible U.S. Strike on Iraq

Turkish businessmen in the southeast region adjacent to Iraq are uneasy over reports that the United States is considering a military operation against Iraq, reported the Anatolia News Agency on Saturday.

Bedrettin Karaboga, Chairman of Southeast Industrialists and Businessmen Association, told reporters that the Southeast region will suffer the most if such an operation does takes place.

He recalled that Turkey suffered a great economic losses due to the Gulf Crisis in the region ten years ago.

Noting that no country was affected so badly from the Gulf Crisis as Turkey did, Karaboga said that Turkey lost some 70 billion U.S. dollars in 11 years due to the embargo imposed on Iraq.

Karaboga said that the diesel oil trade between Turkey and Iraq came to an end after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U. S..

Senior Turkish officials and military officers have recently voiced their concern about a possible U.S. strike on Iraq.

Turkish President Ahmed Necdet Sezer on Wednesday reaffirmed his country's stance concerning the protection of the territorial integrity of Iraq.

Meanwhile, Chief of General Staff Huseyin Kivrikoglu stated on Tuesday that an operation on Iraq would result in the formation of an independent Kurdish state across Turkish-Iraqi border.

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