Press Releases

Embassy Press Statement

Ankara, September 30, 2005. 

Statements by the Chairman of the Iraqi Turkmen Democratic Party concerning coalition military operations in Tal Afar that were carried in several Turkish media outlets today are highly inaccurate.  Military operations in Tal Afar were undertaken by coalition and Iraqi forces to eliminate the presence of insurgents who were terrorizing the people of the city, and were not directed against any ethnic group.  Those operations have been completed.  Humanitarian assistance to Tal Afar, including significant amounts of assistance sent by both the Turkish Red Crescent and the Iraqi Transitional Government, has reached the civilian population in Tal Afar.  People who were displaced by the operations are returning to their homes.  Reconstruction and projects to improve the city’s infrastructure are already underway.