U.S. Embassy In Ankara: Any Suggestion That Any U.S. Military Activity In Northern Iraq Is Directed Against Turkey Is False

ANKARA - The U.S. Embassy in Ankara stated on Thursday that any suggestion that any U.S. military activity in northern Iraq was directed against Turkey, a long-standing ally and NATO partner, was false.
The U.S. Embassy released a statement after a report earlier this week in the British newspaper ''The Guardian'' that was subsequently carried in the Turkish press suggested that ''U.S. forces were fortifying positions in northern Iraq in anticipation of ethnic conflict or a possible Turkish intervention.''
''The deployment of U.S. forces in Iraq is determined by the needs of the mission. Therefore, any suggestion that any U.S. military activity in northern Iraq is directed against Turkey, a long-standing ally and NATO partner, is false. The United States and Turkey have ongoing dialogue on our shared interests and concerns in Iraq,'' it said.
Expressing pleasure by Turkey's cooperation and support for the coalition's efforts in Iraq, the U.S. Embassy said, ''the mission of U.S. troops in northern Iraq is to help Iraq defeat the insurgency and establish stability. We have seen greater insurgent activity recently in the Mosul area. Speculation over Turkish military intervention in Northern Iraq is irresponsible.''
''Military intervention by any of Iraq's neighbors would be destabilizing, and could only lead to wider conflict. Turkey knows this well, and we have no reason to think that Turkey would undertake such action,'' the embassy added.