U.S. Has To Apologize From Turkey

Alliance among states meant giving support to each other against outside threats and respecting each other, he said. Baykal stated that that ugly initiative of U.S. soldiers against Turkish soldiers was an example of irresponsibility, adding that the U.S. gave the image as if it didn’t need the friendship and alliance of Turkey. Baykal criticized the government for not submitting a protest note to the U.S. after the incident.

”There is no doubt that the U.S. deserved this note. The attitude of the Prime Minister about the issue is saddening. Mr. Prime Minister confuses note and ultimatum with each other… Protest note should be given to the U.S. Mr. Prime Minister does not act seriously. Prime Minister and Foreign Minister didn’t even change their daily schedules when the incident took place. The thing Turkey had to do at that point was to call NATO Security Council to meeting. Unfortunately this was not done. We don’t know why Turkish soldiers were kept in Baghdad for 60 hours and we don’t think that the government knew it either. The reason has to be explained… No threat or danger there could justify the act that has been done… It is not possible to ignore the incident. The only way is U.S.’s apologizing from Turkey. Only this can satisfy Turkey.”

Baykal commented that the treatment which Turkey faced recently was the consequence of the fact that the government was beaten down by the decision which the parliament took on March 1. Baykal said, ”the parliament took a very important decision on March 1 and it didn’t accept the deployment of 60,000 U.S. soldiers in Turkey and launching of a land operation from Turkey to Iraq.” Baykal stated that the government could not fulfill the requirements of that decision. Noting that the cabinet decided to open the bases and ports for humanitarian aid purposes, Baykal said no body yet knew the content of the decision. ”Foreign Minister Gul said in a statement that the government would implement the decision in broader meaning of the term. This decision shows that the government can’t bear the earlier decision of the parliament,” Baykal said.

Baykal noted that the incidents in Iraq were worrying, adding that the fact behind that incident was the fact that a big country like the U.S. gave in to peshmergas and started to consider the events from their point of view.

Baykal asked whether or not the news claiming that the U.S. met with PKK and KADEK officials was true, adding ”if such a meeting took place, does the government know the content of the meeting? Was Turkey informed about the meeting?”