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ANKARA, Turkey - The U.S. ambassador to Turkey
has submitted his resignation after less than two
years on the job, the State Department confirmed
Friday, a decision that comes amid tensions between
the two countries over the war in Iraq.
U.S. Ambassador Eric Edelman plans to resign from
the Foreign Service this summer for personal
reasons, said Adam Ereli, a spokesman for the State
Department. Ereli said the ambassador "is leaving
Turkey on positive, friendly, cooperative terms,"
and the spokesman declined to comment on Turkish
reports that the ambassador would take a position in
the Pentagon During a trip to the country earlier
this year, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
reportedly instructed Edelman to do more to calm
anti-Americanism in the Turkish media.
Many Turks are deeply suspicious over U.S.
intentions in northern Iraq, where Kurds control an
autonomous area. Turkey fears that Iraqi Kurds could
push for independence, which could inspire Kurds in
Turkey. Kurdish rebels have been battling the
Turkish army since 1984, a fight that has left some
37,000 dead.
Edelman has drawn criticism from some Turkish
newspapers, and one Turkish web site claims to have
collected 5,000 signatures calling for him to be
expelled from the country.
He arrived in Turkey in August 2003, when relations
were also tense.
In March 2003, Turkey snubbed a U.S.-request to host
troops in the country to invade neighboring Iraq.
Relations were further strained when the U.S.
military detained a team of Turkish special forces
in northern Iraq in July 2003 that were reportedly
plotting to assassinate a Kurdish official in the
ethnically divided city of Kirkuk.
AP
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