U.S. raid: angry Turkey closes border with Iraq

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reacted furiously to the U.S. raid on Turkish troops, and was reported saying: “This is a repugnant incident that should never have happened.”

“We cannot accept this,” Mr. Erdogan protested, according to Anatolia news agency, condemning the United States for “behaviour unworthy of two allied countries in a coalition”.

The Turkish leader told Anatolia he had demanded the immediate release of the men.

Mr. Erdogan said the Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, had discussed the arrests with the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who had assured him that the soldiers were safe and that he would do what he could to have them freed.

Three officers and eight non-commissioned officers were arrested yesterday in Sulaymaniyah, fiefdom of the Iraqi Kurdish leader, Jalal Talabani, of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

About 100 U.S. soldiers stormed the local offices of the Turkish special forces after cutting the telephone lines. The 11 soldiers and six employees were taken to the nearby city of Kirkurk, the daily said.