Ankara rejected Saddam proposal to strike Kurds

The proposal, to “cut off the heads of the Kurds together” made to the Turkish government by Saddam Hussein, was immediately rejected by Ankara, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül said on Tuesday.
Gül said that Turkey had protected the Iraqi Kurds for more than a decade and wanted no part of such a plan.
The Foreign Minister also rejected the criticisms of some Moslem countries over Turkey’s proposed deployment of troops to Iraq.
“It is easy to talk at a distance of 8,000 kilometres,” Gül said.
He suggested that instead of deploying forces in the US-led peacekeeping force, the Organisation of Islamic Conference should establish a group to act as a go-between body.
Turkish diplomatic sources said that Minister’s call for Moslem countries to send forces to serve as a peacekeeping force in Iraq was not a tactical move.