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"Also regular briefings were held. We certainly know all the details. The operation ended exactly how it was planned earlier. It was completely a military planning. The United States did not have any influence on ending the operation," Gul added.     Â
Turkey's ground operation on PKK in northern Iraq had ended unexpectedly just a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates' brief trip to Ankara and Bush's call called for a short and carefully targeted operation.
The head of Turkish military General Yasar Buyukanit Saturday told Milliyet daily the withdrawal from Northern
Thousands of Turkish troops, backed by warplanes and attack helicopters, crossed the border on February 21 to root out PKK separatists and destroy their numerous bases. It was
However Buyukanit said the decision to pull out was given long before Gates arrived in
Claims of an abrupt withdrawal were strengthened after a first text of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s monthly television address, said the operation was being pursued" even after Baghdad had confirmed that troops were leaving its territory. That version of the speech was distributed Friday afternoon with an embargo until the evening. A few hours later, his office distributed a second text of the speech that mentioned the pull-out.
Buyukanit defended Erdogan, saying that the prime minister knew about the withdrawal, but rightly did not mention it in the text of the address for the safety of the operation. "He could not have said they are withdrawing or will withdraw. It is not possible," the general said.
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In Washington U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said on Friday that
When recalled that there is a concern in the public view in Turkey that withdrawal of Turkish troops from the north of Iraq came after Gates' visit and Bush's call for immediate withdrawal, Casey said, "First of all, we're pleased to see that the Turks carried out their commitment to us and to the Iraqis to have this operation be limited in scope and duration. That is something that they have always said they intended to do", the official Anatolian Agency reported.
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"I believe that the Turkish government took this decision because it made sense militarily and politically to the government of