Press Releases

Embassy Press Release on Alleged US Military Build-up in Northern Iraq

Ankara, February 17, 2005

A report earlier this week in the British newspaper “The Guardian” that was subsequently carried in the Turkish press suggested that US forces are 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. We are pleased by Turkey’s cooperation and support for the coalition’s efforts in Iraq.  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.