Tag: Wikileaks

Tribune of Anatolia

Diplomatic Cables Reveal US Doubts about Turkey’s Government

US President Barack Obama with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the recent G-20 summit in Seoul: The diplomatic cables reveal that US diplomats have grave doubts about Turkey’s dependability.

The leaked diplomatic cables reveal that US diplomats are skeptical about Turkey’s dependability as a partner. The leadership in Ankara is depicted as divided and permeated by Islamists.

$US President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (back C) looks on as they prepare to pose together for the "family photo" following the plenary sessions at the G20 Summit in Seoul on November 12, 2010. Leaders of the Group of 20 on November 11 began the two-day fractious summit dominated by arguments over trade and currency policy. AFP PHOTO / TIM SLOAN$
US President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi (back C) looks on as they prepare to pose together for the "family photo" following the plenary sessions at the G20 Summit in Seoul on November 12, 2010. Leaders of the Group of 20 on November 11 began the two-day fractious summit dominated by arguments over trade and currency policy. AFP PHOTO / TIM SLOAN

US diplomats have grave doubts about Turkey’s dependability. Secret or confidential cables from the US Embassy in Ankara describe Islamist tendencies in the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The US diplomats’ verdict on the NATO partner with the second biggest army in the alliance is devastating. The Turkish leadership is depicted as divided, and Erdogan’s advisers, as well as Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, are portrayed as having little understanding of politics beyond Ankara.

The Americans are also worried about Davutoglu’s alleged neo-Ottoman visions. A high-ranking government adviser warned in discussions, quoted by the US diplomats, that Davutoglu would use his Islamist influence on Erdogan, describing him as “exceptionally dangerous.” According to the US document, another adviser to the ruling AKP party remarked, probably ironically, that Turkey wanted “to take back Andalusia and avenge the defeat at the siege of Vienna in 1683.”

The US diplomats write that many leading figures in the AKP were members of a Muslim fraternity and that Erdogan had appointed Islamist bankers to influential positions. He gets his information almost exclusively from newspapers with close links to Islamists, they reported. The prime minister, the cables continue, has surrounded himself with an “iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous) advisors” and presents himself as the “Tribune of Anatolia.”

Editor’s note: DER SPIEGEL’s full reporting on the WikiLeaks US diplomatic cables will be published first in the German-language edition of the magazine, which will be available on Monday to subscribers and at newsstands in Germany and Europe. SPIEGEL ONLINE International will publish extended excerpts of SPIEGEL’s reporting in English in a series that will launch on Monday.

November 29, 2010
Did Turkey help al-Qaeda in Iraq? Wikileaks’ release may have answer

By IB Times Staff Reporter | November 27, 2010 1:48 PM EST

According to the London-based daily al-Hayat, the WikiLeaks release includes documents showing Turkey has helped al-Qaeda in Iraq, reports Reuters.

WikiLeaks became a world famous whistleblower platform after releasing over 76,000 secret military documents uncovering events in the Afghanistan war.

The Department of State, was reportedly briefed ahead by the New York Times, which is one of the Wikileaks’ partners in publishing the new documents.

So far, the countries making rounds in news and on Twitter include the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway, Israel, Iraq, India, China, Turkey, Russia and Iceland.

U.S. allies around the world have been briefed by American diplomats in anticipation of the release of classified U.S. files by WikiLeaks.

The release of millions of documents listing the cables thought to include private, confidential assessments of foreign leaders and governments may leave the U.S. diplomacy in quandary.

via Did Turkey help al-Qaeda in Iraq? Wikileaks’ release may have answer – International Business Times.

November 28, 2010
Turkey helped al-Qaida, US Supported PKK, Documents Show

(AP, A.W.)—Documents expected to be leaked allege that Turkey allowed citizens smuggle weapons into Iraq, US helped Kurdish terrorists. Wikileaks is planning to release files that show Turkey has helped al-Qaida in Iraq, according to London-based daily Al-Hayat. The newspaper also reported that the U.S. helped the PKK, a Kurdish rebel organization.

One of the documents, a U.S. military report, reportedly charges Turkey with failing to control its borders, because Iraqi citizens residing in Turkey provided al-Qaida with supplies to build bombs, guns and ammunition.

A Wikileaks administrator also told Al-Hayat that the site needs Turks to volunteer to translate documents about Turkey’s role in the war in Iraq and its bid for EU membership.

Other documents show that the U.S. has supported the PKK, which has been waging a separatist war against Turkey since 1984 and has been classified by the State Department as a terrorist organization since 1979. The U.S. military documents call the PKK “warriors for freedom and Turkish citizens,” and say that the U.S. set free arrested PKK members in Iraq. The documents also point out that U.S. forces in Iraq have given weapons to the PKK and ignored the organization’s operations inside Turkey.

On Nov. 24, the Obama administration said that it had alerted Congress and begun notifying foreign governments that the WikiLeaks website is preparing to release sensitive US diplomatic files that could damage U.S. relations with friends and allies across the globe.

Officials said the documents may contain everything from accounts of compromising conversations with political dissidents and friendly politicians to disclosures of activities that could result in the expulsion of U.S. diplomats from foreign postings.

US diplomatic outposts around the world have begun notifying other governments that WikiLeaks may release these documents in the next few days.

“These revelations are harmful to the United States and our interests,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. “They are going to create tension in relationships between our diplomats and our friends around the world.”

Crowley said the release of confidential communications about foreign governments probably will erode trust in the United States as a diplomatic partner and could cause embarrassment if the files should include derogatory or critical comments about friendly foreign leaders.

“When this confidence is betrayed and ends up on the front pages of newspapers or lead stories on television or radio, it has an impact,” Crowley said.

A Pentagon spokesman, Marine Col. David Lapan, said the Pentagon also has notified congressional committees of an expected WikiLeaks release. He said the files are believed to be State Department documents, but they could contain information about military tactics or reveal the identities of sources.

A statement on WikiLeaks Twitter site on Nov. 24 said “the Pentagon is hyperventilating again over fears of being held to account.” It has been announced that seven times as many secret documents as the 400,000 Iraq war logs WikiLeaks published last month (for information on the Iraq war logs, see video).

In 2009, WikiLeaks won the Amnesty International human rights reporting award (New Media).

via Turkey helped al-Qaida, US Supported PKK, Documents Show | Armenian Weekly.

November 28, 2010
Next WikiLeaks Government Documents Release Shows How Turkey Helped Al Qaeda In Iraq

Wikileaks.org is going to release a new set of documents that shows how NATO ally Turkey aided Al Qaeda in Iraq. The documents will also show how the U.S. supported the PKK Kurdish separatist group that is fighting against Turkey. Below is a quote from a Reuters source:

The next release is expected to include thousands of diplomatic cables reporting corruption allegations against politicians in Russia, Afghanistan and other Central Asian nations, sources familiar with the State Department cables held by WikiLeaks told Reuters on Wednesday. The allegations are major enough to cause serious embarrassment for foreign governments, the sources said.

WikiLeaks is an organization started by Julian Assange that publishes confidential documents from anonymous sources and leaks. Wikileaks launched in 2006 and claimed to have 1.2 million documents in its database within a year.

[RawStory.com]

November 28, 2010
US contacts Turkey over WikiLeaks files

AFP/File – Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) is pictured in Sarajevo on October 2010. The United States

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.

November 27, 2010