No US troops, weapons have crossed into Iraq from Turkey, FM says

ANKARA (AFP) Apr 04, 2003
Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Friday that no US troops or weapons had crossed into Iraq on US vehicles recently allowed over the border into the Kurdish-held region.

"The vehicles which have crossed into Iraq from the border were definitely not carrying soldiers or weapons," Gul told reporters here.

"Turkey is not a country which is fighting in the war, has entered the war or is openly contributing to the war," he added.

On Wednesday, the Turkish army announced that 204 unarmed US Hummer jeeps were being shipped to Iraq in batches.

It said no other "weapons, military supplies or equipment" had been sent over the border.

The United States was forced to airlift troops into northern Iraq after Ankara refused to allow the United States to use its territory as a springboard for attacks on Iraq.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who visited Ankara on Wednesday, said the two governments had agreed on the transfer of supplies to US troops in northern Iraq through Turkey.

US and Turkish officials later made plain all supplies would be "non-lethal".

SPACE.WIRE