TURKEY: The US and Turkey yesterday sought to paper over the cracks of a dispute which broke out between the two NATO allies earlier this month when US soldiers arrested 11 Turkish special forces troops in northern Iraq.
A statement issued after an inquiry by a joint military commission said both sides regretted that "this incident occurred between allied troops".
The Turkish troops were detained just as the two allies were stepping up diplomatic efforts to improve relations. Ties were severely strained following Turkey's failure on March 1st, after weeks of prevarication, to allow the stationing of US troops on its soil for a second front against Iraq.
The troops were freed two days after they were detained on July 4th, but the arrests caused uproar in Turkey after the men reported humiliating treatment, including having their heads covered with hoods.
Turkey had initially demanded a full apology from Washington. But the US remained convinced that the Turkish special forces had been involved in activities beyond their stated purpose of combating separatist terrorism by Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has since renamed itself Kadek.
Turkish troops have been based in northern Iraq since 1984, ever since the PKK began using the Kurdish-dominated enclave to launch attacks against Turkey. The Turkish armed forces have said that they would remain in northern Iraq as long as the PKK still posed a threat.
While the US shares Turkey's determination to eliminate that threat, a US official also made clear that Washington expected Turkish troops "to fully co-ordinate their actions with coalition forces".
"The US expects Turkey to obey the new rules of the game, stemming from the fact that the US is now the boss in northern Iraq," a Turkish defence analyst said.
US and Turkish military leaders have agreed to establish closer co-ordination to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents.
It was confirmed yesterday that Mr Abdullah Gul, the Turkish foreign minister, would go ahead with a visit to Washington next week. Some Turkish sources had suggested shortly after the arrests that he should cancel the trip in protest.
"The result which has emerged is that a big mistake was made," Mr Gul told a meeting of his Justice and Development Party. "What is important is that permanent committees are being formed to make Turkish-US relations more healthy and to make the reconstruction of Iraq and Turkey's assistance more significant."