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ANKARA, Sept 13 (AFP) - Turkey, a key NATO ally
of the United States, on Monday warned it would halt
all cooperation in Iraq if US forces continued
attacking the mostly Turkmen populated Iraqi town of
Tall Afar, Anatolia news agency said.
"I myself spoke to the American Secretary of State
(Colin Powell)," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told
journalists here, Anatolia reported.
"We stated very clearly that if it continues, Turkey
will end its partnership on all areas concerning
Iraq."
US commanders say Tall Afar is a key staging point
for foreign fighters infiltrating Iraq via minor
roads from the Syrian border to the west. The US
said their air and ground assault last Thursday
killed up to 57 "terrorists".
Turkey did not join last year's US-led war invasion
of its southern neighbour, and refused to let US
troops enter Iraq from its territory.
But Ankara remains a key NATO ally of Washington,
and Turkish firms are involved in construction and
transport operations in Iraq, with hundreds of
Turkish trucks bringing in goods for the US military
every day.
Gul condemned what he called "the excessive use of
force against civilian populations" in the town that
lies 75 kilometers (47 miles) from the Syrian
border, Anatolia said.
Earlier Monday, the Turkish foreign ministry
summoned US Ambassador Eric Edelman over the
situation in Tall Afar.
Ministry undersecretary Ali Tuygan said Turkey was
"preoccupied" by the situation and the envoy replied
that "targeted strikes" by US forces were aimed at
combatants and not civilians, Edelman told reporters
after the meeting.
He said Turkey and the United States would cooperate
to send speedy humanitarian assistance to the area.
Edelman rejected claims in the Turkish media that US
forces aimed to clear Tall Afar of its
Turkish-speaking Turkmens, who are close to Ankara,
and replace them with their own allies in Iraq, the
Kurds.
The Turkish foreign ministry said late last week
that the US-led operations had caused 50,000 Turkmen
to leave their homes in the town.
Turkey's traditionally warm ties with the United
States have been strained by the Iraq conflict.
Ankara is particularly worried that greater autonomy
for northern Iraq's Kurds could fuel separatist
demands in Turkey's own mainly Kurdish southeast.
Early this month Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
warned that Turkey's patience was running out over
US reluctance to take military action against
Turkish Kurd rebels hiding in northern Iraq.
About 5,000 militants from the PKK, now also known
as KONGRA-GEL, are believed to have found refuge in
the mountains of northern Iraq since 1999 when the
group declared a unilateral ceasefire with Ankara.
About 1,500 rebels have reportedly infiltrated
Turkey recently to engage in renewed violence after
the group called off the truce on June 1.
Turkey has expressed frustration over US reluctance
to employ military means against the rebels, which
both Ankara and Washington regard as terrorists,
since last October when the two sides agreed on an
action plan against the PKK.
US officials have argued that their troops are
already swamped with unremitting violence in other
parts of Iraq.
Turkey keeps several thousand soldiers in northern
Iraq. They were deployed in the region prior to the
US-led occupation of Iraq to counter the PKK, which
has waged a 15-year campaign for self-rule in the
Turkish southeast that has claimed some 37,000
lives.
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