US-Turkish Relations Strained Further
July 7, 2003
By Zeyno Baran
On July 4th, US Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade detained 11 Turkish soldiers in Sulaimaniyah based on intelligence that along with a dozen Turkmen civilians, they special forces were going to “harm Iraqi civilian officials in the north” according to an unnamed State Department official quoted by CNN. Turkish Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Chief of Staff of the Military flatly denied these allegations and demanded immediate release of the detained along with an apology. As of Monday morning, they were still waiting.
During the weekend Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Vice President Dick Cheney, and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul spoke with Secretary of State Colin Powell three times to resolve this unprecedented incident: a NATO country’s soldiers detaining another NATO ally’s forces, and without any warning.
This latest incident in bilateral relations is a continuation of the tension since March 1 vote of the Turkish parliament refusing active military cooperation with the United States, thus denying the Northern Front. At the beginning of the war, when a US plane came under attack and needed emergency landing, Turkish military refused to grant permission, which strained the military/military relations even further. Throughout the war and afterwards, the US believed that Turkey may send troops into Northern Iraq to prevent the formation of a Kurdish-based federation, which might encourage separatism for the Kurds in Turkey as well.
In fact, in April the same 173rd Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade had detained a dozen Turkish Special Forces, and Newsweek quoted brigade commander Col. Bill Mayville charging that “They did not come here with a pure heart…Their objective is to create an environment that can be used by Turkey to send a large peacekeeping force into Kirkuk.”
The key concern for the US is whether Turkish forces would provoke the local Turkmen into instability in the North, which the Turkish government strongly denies.
From Turkish point of view, their forces are stabilizing the region and keeping an eye on the terrorist PKK/KADEK. The US, however, seems to want the Turks out of Northern Iraq—Turks are not welcomed by the Kurds either. And the latest incident may be the first step in –very undiplomatically--communicating this message to the Turks.
Whatever the end result, the US has seriously mishandled Turkey over the past several months. The lack of coordination between the State Department and the Pentagon was terribly clear in the often confusing messages Ankara was receiving. While American military was seriously upset with their Turkish counterparts, State kept giving a positive spin, leading the Turks to underestimate the depth of ongoing American resentment. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman even talked about the “strategic partnership” during a visit by Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary.
It is time both sides speak openly and avoid further tension in Iraq. Turkish government had announced a new policy where they would no longer pay attention only to the Turkmen in Northern Iraq, but Iraq as a whole. Thus they were slowly coming to grips with the painful fact that they may not stop the creation of a Kurdish federation in Iraq, which is for the foreseeable future under American occupation. If Turkish Special Forces were acting with a different understanding, they need to be punished properly.
For its part, the US government has to come up with an explanation for this detention. If the intelligence was wrong as the Turks claim and the Turkish military was humiliated unjustly, the US needs to punish those responsible in its system. Moreover, US needs to communicate to its NATO ally its strategy for stabilizing Iraq, dealing with PKK/KADEK, and what, if any, role the Turkish soldiers may continue to play in the north. If the US wants the Turks out, this has to be handled properly, and not cause bilateral relations or NATO any further damage.
