Türkiye sharply criticized the United States in early February 2005 over what it described as American indifference to Kurdish political advances in Iraq, even as a senior Pentagon official in Ankara insisted the two countries' alliance remained solid.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking before parliament, charged that forces claiming to promote democracy had looked the other way while anti-democratic ambitions went unchecked. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul added that Türkiye could act if ethnic tensions in Kirkuk turned violent.
Ankara's central concern was Kirkuk, an oil-rich city it accused Iraqi Kurds of trying to dominate at the expense of Arab and Turkmen residents. Türkiye also fears that Kurdish control of the city could energize separatist sentiment among its own Kurdish population in southeastern Türkiye.
Douglas Feith, the US undersecretary of defense for policy, wrapped up a two-day Ankara visit by reaffirming that Iraqi territorial integrity was a Washington priority and that bilateral ties were "useful, strong, deeply-rooted." He also confirmed US interest in using the Incirlik air base as a logistics hub for American forces in the region.
The two governments had been strained since the Turkish parliament blocked US use of Turkish soil for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was due to visit Ankara that weekend.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in February 2005, in its own words.