The state of Turkey is “on alert” due to the attack at the Turkish Consulate in Mosul
The main issue in today’s Turkish press (12.06.14) is the attack at the Turkish Consulate in the Iraqi city of Mosul, and the abduction of the 49 Consulate staff members including the Consul-General and family members.
According to Ankara Anatolia news agency (11.06.14), Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that 49 Turkish consulate staff members, including the Consul-General and their family members, have been abducted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant militants (ISIL) in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The abductions came Wednesday, a day after ISIL took control of Iraq’s second-largest city and seized 31 Turkish truck drivers who were transporting fuel to a thermal power plant.
Speaking as he prepared to leave a UN meeting on counter-terrorism in the United States to return to Ankara, to deal with the incident, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that the Iraqi government was responsible for the security of the consulate staff. “No one should dare test Turkey’s power,” he said, adding that Turkey would not allow any harming of its nationals to go unpunished.
The Iraqi government was responsible for the security of the consulate staff, underscored Davutoglu and said: “What is important in such circumstances is not to panic and to draw a road map for the security of our citizens.”
The Ministry strongly condemned the abductions and said Turkey would use every means available to save its Consulate staff.
Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (online, 12.06.14) reports that Davutoglu has defended Ankara’s decision to keep its consulate in Mosul open despite the approach of ISIL militants.
“The risk of leaving was higher than the risk of staying in. Clashes were happening street by street. Taking such a sensitive convoy [the consulate staff and their families] out was a risk,” Davutoglu told Turkish journalists at New York John F. Kennedy Airport before leaving for Turkey.
Another reason for the decision to continue the consulate’s activity was “to give confidence to the people of Mosul,” he added.
Earlier, Davutoglu had decided to cut his U.S. trip short due to the events in Iraq, and held phone conversations with officials from the U.S. and the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for the release of the consulate staff. “The United States has a special responsibility for the security of Iraq. But primarily, the Iraqi state is responsible for the security of our diplomatic mission,” he said.
Stressing that it was “not the first time that Turkey has faced such a crisis,” the Turkish Foreign Minister said “nobody should have any doubts” that the hostages would be brought back safely. “We brought our citizens safe and sound in similar crises before. We are informed about their health and safety to a certain extent. The important thing now is bring them home,” he said.
On the same issue, HDN (online, 11.06.14) reported that the state of Turkey was “on alert” late June 11 after 80 Turkish citizens, including Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz, were taken hostage by the ISIL in Mosul, as Turkish authorities talked to their U.S. counterparts on phone and briefed their NATO allies at an emergency meeting.
“All institutions of Turkey are on alert”, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told the members of the Parliament, stressing that Ankara “took all necessary initiatives in international organizations.”
While the Turkish Foreign Ministry had established a crisis desk to help the relatives of Turkish citizens abducted in Mosul, two key meetings were held in Ankara. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay and National Intelligence Agency (MIT) chief Hakan Fidan convened at the Prime Ministry for an emergency meeting that lasted two hours.
The second meeting was presided over by President Abdullah Gul. Along with the participants of the first meeting, Chief of Staff Necdet Ozel was also present in the second “evaluation” meeting, which continued for over two hours. A public statement, scheduled to be released after this meeting, was ultimately cancelled.
In both meetings, Turkish officials agreed to act diplomatically and to try “to persuade” the militants, as the hostages are known to be safe and healthy under the current conditions.
Meanwhile, Turkey called for an emergency meeting of NATO and Turkish Ambassador Fatih Ceylan briefed member states of the alliance about the situation in Mosul.
Turkey did not invoke Article 4 of the NATO charter, which allows any ally to call for consultations if the security of any member country is threatened. The June 11 meeting was merely for information purposes, a Turkish diplomat told the Hurriyet Daily News.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said there was “no question” of British troops being sent back to Iraq to help battle Islamic militants who have seized control of key cities.
Hague said that while the situation was of great concern, the government was “not countenancing at this stage any British military involvement.” He said he believed Iraq had sufficient forces to counter the threat.
Moreover, HDN (online, 12.06.14) reports that the Turkish government is not working on any new mandate to authorize a cross-border military operation into Iraq, where militants are holding 80 Turkish nationals hostage, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on June 12.
“The issue of whether the existing mandate is sufficient [for a military operation] or a new mandate is required is among the issues being discussed. But right now there is no work being conducted for a new mandate,” Bozdag told reporters in Ankara.
A parliamentary mandate allowing Turkey to conduct cross-border military operations in Iraq expires in October.
The text of the current mandate refers to the PKK, but it also uses a more general term in another clause, defining the target of possible operations as “terrorist attacks and threats against Turkey” from “northern Iraq and its neighbouring areas.”
The Turkish Parliament authorized the government on Oct. 10, 2013, giving it a 12-month mandate for foreign mission. However, the government has yet to transfer this authorization to the army.
Meanwhile, HDN (online, 12.06.14) reports that the Istanbul Stock Exchange plummeted by around 3.3% following reports of seizure of hostages the previous afternoon.
The Turkish Lira has weakened against the U.S. dollar and stocks opened the day with losses due to heightened concerns over the turmoil in neighbouring Iraq. The lira/dollar ratio climbed over 2.12 in the morning as investors fear the geopolitical risks in Iraq may have knock-on effects in Turkey.