US: Turkmens not targeted

U.S. forces were reportedly in full control of the town yesterday, after days of fierce clashes, which the U.S military said took place as they were trying to root out an insurgent cell smuggling men and arms from neighboring Syria.

Turkey has urged the United States to immediately stop the operation after civilian casualties among the Turkmen population came to alarmingly high numbers and began to seek ways to deliver humanitarian aid to inhabitants of the besieged town.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman, who met with Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan yesterday, said U.S. forces were being as careful as they could to prevent civilian casualties.

He also said Washington was planning to work together with Turkish authorities in order to effectively coordinate delivery of Turkish humanitarian aid to Tal Afar in the shortest time possible.

He said U.S. forces were close to finishing the operation but declined to comment, citing the sensitive military nature of the issue.

The U.S. ambassador also said Turkmens were a peaceful community that had never been involved in clashes and added that they should not be dragged into violence in the future.

The Tal Afar operation, which started on Thursday, created outrage in Turkey, which shares close ethnic ties with Turkmens. Demonstrators marched to the U.S. Embassy in Ankara on Sunday, laying black wreathes in front of the embassy building in protest of the deadly operation.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on the phone, expressing Turkey’s concerns. The foreign minister said it was Turkey’s right to speak out when its "relatives" in Iraq were so adversely affected.

Local sources said the clashes started when U.S. forces chased Shiite Turkmens loyal to Shiite rebel leader Muqtada al-Sadr to Tal Afar after they were defeated in clashes in Najaf and Fallujah.

Safety of Turkmens has been one of the top issues for Turkish policy-makers, who described it a "red line" violation of which would prompt Turkey to "declare war."
No attempt to change demographic structure

Edelman denied media reports that the U.S. operation in Tal Afar was intended to replace the Turkmen population of the town with Kurds, populating the rest of northern Iraq.

Turkmen sources have said up to 50,000 inhabitants of the town were displaced due to clashes. Turkish media reports have said Kurds were trying to advance into Tal Afar, taking benefit of the clashes with U.S. forces.

Edelman said there were no attempts to change the demographic structure of the region, when asked to comment on reports.