Turk
lawmaker says US in Iraq
worse than Hitler
By Gareth Jones
ANKARA
(Reuters - 26 November) - The head of Turkey's parliamentary
human rights
group has accused Washington of genocide in Iraq and behaving worse
than Adolf Hitler, in remarks underscoring the depth of
opposition in Turkey to U.S. policy in the region.
The United Sates embassy said the comments were potentially damaging to
Turkish-U.S. relations.
"The occupation has turned into barbarism," Friday's Yeni Safak
newspaper quoted Mehmet Elkatmis, head of parliament's human
rights commission, as saying. "The U.S. administration is committing
genocide...in Iraq.
"Never in human history have such genocide and cruelty been witnessed.
Such a genocide was never seen in the time of the pharoahs (of ancient
Egypt), nor of Hitler nor of (Italy's fascist
leader Benito) Mussolini," he said.
"This occupation has entirely imperialist aims," he was quoted as
telling the human rights commission on Thursday.
Elkatmis does not speak for Turkey's government but he is a prominent
member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), a
centre-right grouping with Islamist roots which has become
increasingly critical of U.S. actions in Iraq.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul played down Elkatmis's comments but
defended Turks' right to speak freely.
"In open societies everybody can say what they want," Gul told
reporters.
"Regarding U.S.-Turkey relations we can comfortably discuss any
subject," he added.
The U.S. embassy in Ankara rejected Elkatmis's accusations.
"Such unfounded, inaccurate, exaggerated claims are not good for
relations, especially at a time of strain when Turkish public
opinion is so critical of what the United States is trying to do in
Iraq," one U.S. diplomat told Reuters.
Tellingly, Elkatmis's comments, which might have sparked outrage in
many Western countries, drew barely a flicker of interest in Turkey,
where opinion polls point to a growing tide of anti-American
sentiment.
Turkey has been especially disturbed by the recent U.S. offensive
against insurgents in the city of Falluja in which civilians also died
and mosques were damaged.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan relayed Turkish concerns over the Falluja
offensive in two recent telephone calls to U.S. President George W.
Bush and to Vice-President Dick Cheney.
Elkatmis accused U.S. forces of deliberately targeting mosques and
schools in Falluja.
Washington says the Falluja campaign was necessary to bring the Sunni
Muslim city back under the control of the central Baghdad government
ahead of planned Iraqi elections in January.
The U.S. diplomat said Elkatmis had overlooked the fact that Iraqi
insurgents like those in Falluja had abducted and beheaded a
number of Turkish truck drivers in recent months.
Underlying Turkish criticism of U.S. policy in Iraq is the fear that
Kurds in the north of the country may use the general turmoil as an
excuse to seek independence from Baghdad, a move which could reignite
separatism among Turkey's own Kurds.
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