Hands off beleagured Turkey

The United States is attempting to implicate some elements in the Turkish government in aggravating Turkey's relations with Iraq and encourage her to annihilate the Turkish Kurds.

This came as an attempt to mislead some Kurdish officials for trying to establish an isolated border zone south of Turkey and in northern Iraq, similar to the security zone in southern Lebanon, for U.S. and Zionist purposes aimed at tearing apart Turkey and weakening its role in the region.

This is what fully corresponds with the U.S.-Zionist plan to weaken Turkey politically, economically and militarily.

If the U.S. and Western countries are really true friends of Turkey, they would have helped her instead of placing obstacles with the aim of weakening its economy.

Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller estimates her country's losses incurred from the continued embargo on Iraq at $27 billion. Others estimate that they have reached $50 billion, in addition to a 67 percent inflation rate at the end of last year and the spread of unemployment , particularly in southeastern Turkey.

-- Al-Qadissa, Bagdad