Turkey released a statement Tuesday saying it and the United States regretted the capture of 11 Turkish special forces soldiers in northern Iraq in early July. But a U.S. official said Washington still had not approved the document, AP reported.
In a surprise July 4 raid that strained ties between the nations, U.S. troops detained 11 Turkish troops in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah.
The Turks offered the Americans tea, in line with Turkish traditions, but the U.S. soldiers took the Turks prisoners, handcuffed them, hooded them and flew them to Baghdad for interrogation. They were released more than two days later.
A U.S. embassy official in Turkey said that the statement was released prematurely and that the embassy was waiting for approval from Washington.
"We had informed the Turkish side that we needed to get approval for this document from Washington and we did not get it yet," a U.S. embassy official told the AP. "The document is still being considered in Washington."
The statement said both sides "expressed sorrow about the incident between the two allies and the treatment Turkish soldiers went through under detention." It added they "agreed to take additional measures in order to improve cooperation and coordination."
"Both sides agreed on speedily sharing every kind of information ... concerning regional security and stability before taking any action," it said. (Albawaba.com)
