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Turkish
Govt. Apathy Over Tal Afar Slammed
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Baykal launched a diatribe on the government in parliamnet.
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By
Sa’ad Abdul Majid, IOL
Correspondent
ISTANBUL,
September 20, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Turkish opposition parties
have launched a bitter attack on the government for its apathy and
stand-still stance as regards the US-Iraqi forces offensive on Iraq's
northern city of Tal Afar.
Opposition
leader Deniz Baykal, head of the Republican People's Party (CHP),
slammed the inaction of the ruling Justice and Development Party of
Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a parliamentary emergency session Monday,
September 19, to discuss the rising terrorist attacks in the country.
Members
of the opposition Great Union Party (BBP) went Sunday, September 18,
to the streets of Istanbul in protest against the US-led massive
assault on Tal Afar, which is home to a large population of Sunni
Turkomans estimated at 300,000 people, according to unofficial
estimates.
They
charged that Turkey sat on the fence while the city was came under
ferocious attack.
Kamal
Betali, chairman of the Turkoman-Iraqi Culture and Solidarity society
in Turkey, also took part in the march, saying that the city witnessed
“enthinc cleansing” and urged Ankara to take an action.
On
September 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari announced a
major operation against what he termed "terrorists" in the
northern Iraqi city.
The
all-out offensive prompted the resignation of its governor Mohammad
Rashid, who called it a “sectarian operation".
US
air strikes and bombardment have sent residents into panicky flight
from the city.
Some
left for the nearby city of Mosul or ended up in a refugee camp on the
city’s peripheries where they face serious shortages of clean water,
food and medicine.
On
Sunday, the Iraqi government said the operation was over and refugees
started to return to the battered city.
Aid
Banned
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Iraqi women and children return to Tal Afar. (Reuters)
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In
another incident, US occupation forces, backed by Iraqi forces, have
seized a Turkish aid cargo sent by the Turkish Red Crescent on
September 14 to the besieged inhabitants of the city, Turkish Turkoman
TV channel said Sunday.
The
bilingual Arabic-Turkish channel said US occupation troops stopped
five trucks laden with food and told a Red Crescent official that the
US army would distribute the aid instead.
Red
Crescent chairman Omar Tasli said the cargo comprised some 3,500
cartons containing food, makeshift shelter camps, medicine and
blankets estimated at $358,000.
Some
16 first assistance teams were accompanying the aid shipment.
The
Red Crescent said in a statement the seizure came in contravention of
international norms in times of war and contradicted close ties
between Washington and Ankara.
The
US move also drew fire from the Turkish press with mass-circulation Milli
Gazete lambasting the US occupation army in Iraq for turning Tal
Afar into an open-air prison under the excuse of fighting
“terrorists".
“Inhabitants
were left shelterless and deprived food and medicine on terror combat
claims,” said the mouthpiece of the opposition Saadet party.
US
and Iraqi forces argue that Tal Afar is being used as a conduit for
equipment and foreign fighters allegedly coming from Syria.
In
August of 2004, Tal Afar was the scene of a deadly US offensive that
killed hundreds of its residents and displaced thousands.
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