U.S. raid of Turkish outpost in Iraq sparks controversy

In Sulaymaniyah, the senior member of the Turkish outpost, a 38-year-old captain who would only identify himself as Aydin, said he was shocked when he first saw American troops pounding on the iron gate of the courtyard around 2 p.m. Friday.

"I heard a commotion in the front of the building and I heard shots and shouts," the captain said Monday at the outpost. "I heard the men shouting in English, so I thought the Americans were in some kind of trouble and coming here for help."

When he ran to the gate, Aydin said, the Americans broke through the locks and entered the premises. "I said, in English, `We are Turkish troops here. We have no arms.’ That’s when a bullet passed by my head," he said.

The captain said he and the other men were forced to the ground and handcuffed with plastic cuffs. Soldiers then shoved plastic bags over their heads and nudged them out into the street and onto trucks, he said.

The cuffs were pulled tight, the captain said. One of his wrists was ringed with thin scabs. The men were slapped on the head whenever they attempted to talk, he said.

"I kept thinking: This is all a misunderstanding. They’re attacking the wrong spot. They must think they have the Baath Party or some Islamists," Aydin said.

Thirty-three people, including civilians, were taken in the raid. Some civilians were released within hours.

The men were transported by truck to a base in Kirkuk. The captain said he was interrogated about an alleged weapons cache at the post. Sometime Saturday, he said, he and the rest of the soldiers were flown by helicopter to a prison in Baghdad.

The soldiers and about 10 civilians were released about midnight Monday, according to Turkish officials and the top-ranking official at the base.

"Until yesterday, we were treated as POWs. Once they decided to release us, we got cigarettes, water, more food. They told us they were sorry but," Aydin said, motioning to the cuts on his wrist, "that tells me they weren’t sorry."