'The Situation Has Become … Unacceptable'

At one point, Turkish officials suggested that the decision on whether or not to cross into northern Iraq would wait until after Prime Minister Erdogan's meeting with President Bush on Monday.
These are all speculations. We think that the meeting with President Bush is an important one, but if the circumstances oblige Turkey to act militarily before then, I cannot really rule out that possibility.

What is Turkey hoping to hear from President Bush?
In the first place, we want to see concrete results from our cooperation with the United States of America. Since the U.S. intervention [in Iraq] in 2003, we've been working together with the United States to preserve the independence, territorial integrity and unity of Iraq. And of course we are part of the international effort to put an end to terrorist activities wherever they happen. The United States and its president are on record saying that wherever they see terrorist activities, they are going to work against that. And I know that the United States is determined to fight against PKK terrorists, because it was the first country to recognize this organization as a terrorist group. But the thing that's missing so far is concrete results. What we're saying is that these terrorists--about 3,500 or 4,000--have been entrenched in northern Iraq for more than 10 years. And they are conducting hit-and-run attacks into Turkey and killing soldiers and civilians. The situation has become untenable, unacceptable. We have lost in 20 years' time more than 35,000 people. So we have the obligation to protect our people, and others also have an international responsibility not to harbor terrorist organizations, not to give them logistical support, not to let them rove around their country, not to let them set up front parties. All of these things are happening in northern Iraq. They have a responsibility to put a stop to that--immediately.
 
Is there anyone in official Turkey who suspects that the United States or elements of U.S. forces in the region are providing aid to the PKK?
This is a country which is under the threat of international terrorism, especially after 9/11; it is unthinkable to assume that such a country is going to help any other terrorist organization.

Neither you nor any element of the Turkish security apparatus has seen any evidence to lead to suspicions.
If you look at the media, of course there will always be speculation of one sort or another. But as an ambassador in this country, I cannot imagine a situation in which the United States government would deliberately help or supply another terrorist organization.

There are tens of thousands of American-supplied weapons that were sent to Iraq that have either gone missing or are unaccounted for. One mystery concerns Glock pistols that were subsequently used to carry out attacks or murders inside Turkey. Can you tell me what you know about that?
We know that during operations of the Turkish security forces, they have captured weapons that originated in the United States of America. That is maybe why there is speculation in the media. We understand that they were given to certain groups of the Iraqi central government for other purposes--not to end up in the hands of terrorists. But we have supplied information to [officials in] the United States of America, and they are conducting an investigation. They have sent an inspector from the [Department of Defense]. And that investigation is still going on in Iraq. At the end of that examination, we do expect the United States of America to give us a full account and explanation as to how these American weapons have end ed up in the hands of the terrorists.

How long has the investigation been going on?
It has been a few months.

There have been reports that the United States wanted to relocate members of an anti-Iranian group Mujahedin-e Khalq out of Iraq. We heard from at least one source that there was a proposal to move them into Turkey. Do you know any thing about that?
What I know is that Turkey will never condone or shelter any kind of terrorist organization.