Grossman: Turkey Didn’t Surprise Us

"Nothing was promised because the Turkish Parliament hadn’t made such a decision at that time. None of the Turkish leaders over here would have said, ‘I promise that what you want will be accomplished.’ That was not possible," Grossman said. Responding to a question about provocative statements made by Kurdish leaders towards Turkey, Grossman said: "Our message to the Kurds is that they should realize the importance of what they say and what they do in their relations with Turkey. Turkey is a neighbor of Iraq, and as for the Kurds, they live in the northern part of Iraq."

Grossman said he didn’t think they had been misled by the Turkish government and that he had hoped the result would be positive when the Turkish government went to parliament with its note on March 1. Grossman commented: "I believe that the Turkish government goes to parliament to win; however, parliament’s decision was different. Turkey is [a] democratic [country]. It should make its decisions on its own. I don’t think we were misled or that someone made us a promise that shouldn’t have been made."

aa, Cihan News Agency / Washington / USA