ANKARA, Sept 13 (AFP) - Turkey on Monday warned the United States that it would halt cooperation over Iraq if US forces did not stop their assault on the mostly Turkmen populated Iraqi town of Tall Afar, Anatolia news agency said.
"I myself spoke to the American Secretary of State (Colin Powell)," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told journalists here, Anatolia reported.
"We stated very clearly that if (the assault) continues, Turkey will end its partnership on all areas touching Iraq."
US commanders say Tall Afar is a key staging point for foreign fighters infiltrating Iraq via minor roads from the Syrian border to the west. The US
said their air and ground assault last Thursday killed up to 57 "terrorists".
Turkey did not join last year`s US-led invasion of Iraq, and refused to let US troops enter its southern neighbour from its territory. But Ankara remains a key NATO ally of Washington.
Gul condemned what he called "the excessive use of force against civilian populations" in the town that lies 75 kilometers (47 miles) from the Syrian border, Anatolia said.
Earlier Monday, the Turkish foreign ministry summoned US Ambassador Eric Edelman over the situation in Tall Afar.
Ministry undersecretary Ali Tuygan said Turkey was "preoccupied" by the situation and the envoy replied that "targeted strikes" by US forces were aimed at combatants and not civilians, Edelman told reporters after the meeting.
He said Turkey and the United States would cooperate to send speedy humanitarian assistance to the area.
Edelman rejected claims in the Turkish media that US forces aimed to clear Tall Afar of its Turkish-speaking Turkmens, who are close to Ankara, and replace them with their own allies in Iraq, the Kurds.
The Turkish foreign ministry said late last week that that the US-led operations had caused 50,000 Turkmen to leave their homes in the town.