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“Chief
of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok and Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul, in Lithuania on the same day
for different reasons, met to discuss the Tal Afar
issue and compare notes from diplomatic and military
sources.
The Foreign Ministry has continued its initiatives
in this direction as well. Last weekend US
Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman met with Deputy
Undersecretary Ali Tuygan at the ministry as well.
During the talks, Tuygan voiced Ankara’s concerns
and requested that the US cease operations and avoid
using excessive force, harming civilians and
blocking humanitarian aid. Edelman said that the
operations weren’t aimed at Turkmen in the city, but
rather against insurgents and that US troops
wouldn’t dmage the city’s demographic makeup.
During these contacts in Ankara, news came from Tal
Afar about details of the operation. Ankara learned
that US forces had requested that security forces
made up of Turkmen in Tal Afar launch operations
against certain houses, and that Tal Afar’s Turkmen
security chief had resigned due to the US’
insistence.
Then Hursit Hasso, a Kurd, replaced him at US behest and then they held
joint operations along with peshmerga from Erbil (Arbil)
and Zaho as the ‘Iraqi Security Force.’ Ankara also
learned that Turkmen families forced to leave the
city had fled to the Kamber Valley and are now
facing dire straits. Aydın Beyatli, chairman of
the Iraqi Turk Solidarity Association, reported that
health conditions in the valley are very bad and
that a group of Turkish doctors was heading for Tal
Afar.
Turkmen are concerned that the US operation will stretch out and that
peshmerga will settle there with their families due
to security concerns. Although the US gave Ankara a
guarantee on this issue, the Foreign Ministry is
closely following incidents there. Ankara is
extremely concerned.”
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