Tal Afar and The Gul Ozkok Meeting

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.”