Trouble in Turkey

last updated 8 January 2015

Istanbul

Turkish military leaders complained this week that the U.S. had violated their honor by capturing 11 Turkish soldiers in Iraq. U.S. officials said the Turks were linked to a plot to assassinate an American-backed Iraqi official, a charge that Turkish leaders denied. The detainees were released after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Vice President Dick Cheney the U.S. was “about to lose a very valuable ally.” Relations between the two nations have been strained since Turkey refused to let American troops invade Iraq from Turkish territory. A Turkish general said the arrests had made matters worse, and produced “the biggest crisis of confidence ever between the U.S. and Turkish armed forces.”