skip to main |
skip to sidebar
BAGHDAD - The top US commander in Iraq warned Thursday that Turkey's threatened incursion into Kurdish regions in the north of the country could harm the flow of supplies for US troops and damage the Kurdish economy.
Iraqi Kurdistan, a haven of relative calm, could suddenly become another fault line if Turkey makes good on threats to cross the northern border in pursuit of Turkish Kurdish militants.
"We are concerned about that," Gen. David Petraeus told two US reporters in a dusty courtyard in Jadidah, a Shiite town about 25 miles north of Baghdad.
ANKARA (AFP) - Turkey on Thursday condemned a vote by a US House of Representatives committee branding the World War I massacre of Armenians "genocide" and urged them not to take it to a full House vote.
A government statement said the "irresponsible" resolution, voted by the House foreign affairs commitee, was likely to endanger bilateral relations.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 — A House committee voted on Wednesday to condemn the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey in World War I as an act of genocide, rebuffing an intense campaign by the White House and warnings from Turkey’s government that the vote would gravely strain its relations with the United States.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Iraq said it believed the threat of a major Turkish offensive against Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq had diminished despite Turkey's vow of a military operation.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had said the army would go ahead with an operation after his talks with US President George W Bush on Monday to push Washington to crack down on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) separatists based in Iraq.
Turkey today ordered its ambassador in Washington to return to Ankara for "consultations" after a US congressional committee approved a resolution that recognises the 1915 massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday expressed hope for the quick return of Turkey's ambassador to the United States, who was recalled for consultations after a US congressional committee voted to brand Ottoman Turk killings of Armenians as genocide.
"We remain opposed to House Resolution 106 because of the grave harm it could bring to the national security of the United States," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
The Bush administration has voiced concern that the resolution, approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, would damage relations with Turkey, a key ally.
The non-binding resolution, which angered Turkey by calling the 1915 massacres of Armenians genocide, now goes to the floor of the US House of Representatives, where Democratic leaders say there will be a vote by mid-November.
No comments:
Post a Comment