Turkey’s premier issues warning
ankara, turkey -- With Turkish-U.S. relations strained, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey would not be deterred by the diplomatic consequences if it decides to stage a cross-border offensive into Iraq against Kurdish rebels.
“If such an option is chosen, whatever its price, it will be paid,” Erdogan told reporters. “There could be pros and cons of such a decision, but what is important is our country’s interests.”
Erdogan also had harsh words for the U.S., which opposes a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq, one of that country’s few relatively stable areas.
“Did they seek permission from anyone when they came from a distance of 10,000 kilometers and hit Iraq?” he said. “We do not need anyone else’s advice.”
Analysts say Turkey could be less restrained about defying the United States because of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee’s approval this week of a resolution labeling as genocide the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I.
“Democrats are harming the future of the United States and are encouraging anti-American sentiments,” Erdogan said. Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives support the resolution.
Erdogan said Turkey was ready to sacrifice good ties with Washington if necessary.
“Let it snap from wherever it gets thin,” Erdogan said, using a Turkish expression that refers to breaking a connection.
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