AFP/File – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) is pictured in
Fri Nov 26, 2:45 pm ET
ANKARA (AFP) – The United States has been in contact with Turkey over new files to be released on the Internet by WikiLeaks, Turkish officials said Friday, stressing Ankara’s commitment to fighting terrorism.
According to media reports, the planned release by the whistle-blowing website includes papers suggesting that Turkey helped Al-Qaeda militants in Iraq, and that the United States helped Iraq-based Kurdish rebels fighting Turkey.
The US embassy in Ankara “gave us information on the issue, just as other countries have been informed,” a senior diplomat, who declined to be named, told AFP.
He would not say what message the US conveyed.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Ankara did not know what kind of papers the files contained.
“This is speculation… But as a principle, tolerating or ignoring any terrorist action that originates in Turkey and targets a neighbouring country, particularly Iraq, is out of the question,” he said on CNN Turk television.
“The Iraqi authorities have conveyed no complaint to us on the issue…. On the contrary, Turkey has taken very serious measures in the struggle against Al-Qaeda and its efforts have always been appreciated.
“We have always been in close cooperation with the United States in the struggle against terrorism — be it Al-Qaeda or the PKK,” he said.
The minister was referring to the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has rear bases in neighbouring northern Iraq and uses the region as a springboard for attacks on Turkey.
Davutoglu added that if the alleged documents “come out, if this really happens, then we will make the necessary evaluation.”
He spoke shortly ahead of his departure to Washington for previously scheduled talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The Turkish diplomat also praised US support against the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by both Ankara and Washington and much of the international community.
“We have efficient cooperation against the PKK with our ally and friend, the United States. We are happy with it and we hope it will continue,” he said.
A US embassy official declined to comment on the planned WikiLeaks release, saying it was “pure speculation.”
She also reaffirmed US commitment to helping Turkey combat the PKK, whose 26-year armed campaign in southeast Turkey has claimed some 45,000 lives.
US policy “has never been nor will ever be in support of the PKK. Anything that implies otherwise is nonsense,” she said. “We are committed together with the Turkish government in fighting terrorism, whether from Al-Qaeda or the PKK.”
WikiLeaks has not said what will be contained in its upcoming release, indicating only it will be “seven times” the size of the Iraq War logs in which it posted 400,000 secret documents.
The US State Department said Wednesday that US embassies around the world had “begun the process of informing governments that a release of documents is possible in the near future.”
“These revelations… are going to create tensions on our relationships between our diplomats and our friends around the world,” said spokesman Philip Crowley.
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