Yeşilova incident
Yeşilova incident | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | Turkey | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
Royal Marines | Turkish Armed Forces | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
30 marines | several hundreds[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
No casualties |
The Yeşilova incident was a reported armed standoff that took place at a refugee camp in Yeşilova, a small Turkish town near the border between Iraq and Turkey, between British Royal Marines and the Turkish Armed Forces. Local Turkish soldiers have been accused by reporter Robert Fisk of stealing essential goods and preventing medical care from deprived refugees in dire conditions, with a cholera outbreak ongoing. Other reporters such as Hugh Pope deny this version of the events.
Background
In March 1991, with the end of hostilities between
The incident
According to British journalist
Fisk filed an article for the newspaper The Independent on April 30 from Diyarbakır, describing the confrontation between the Royal Marines and the Turkish soldiers. Fisk's report incensed Turkish authorities, who detained him in Diyarbakır.[4] Turkey's Foreign Ministry and the army's Chief of Staff, General Doğan Güreş, denounced Fisk's article, claiming it was "planned, programmed propaganda."[5] He was interrogated but eventually released and expelled from Turkey. Fisk speculated that charges were being prepared by the governor of Diyarbakır for "defaming" the Turkish military and later described the interrogation session as "pathetic and frightening."[6]
Fisk's fellow journalist at the Independent, Hugh Pope stated that his "cavalier treatment of facts seems to be true" in the case, pointing out numerous inaccuracies in Fisk's account. [7]
Reactions
The European Commission and numerous journalists protested and demanded an explanation from the Turkish government.[5]
Notes
- ^ Dining with al-Qaeda: Three Decades Exploring the Many Worlds of the Middle Eas. Hugh Pope. Macmillan. 2010. P.24
- ISBN 1-4000-4151-1.
- ^ Fisk. The Great War for Civilisation, p. 677.
- ^ "Turks Arrest Journalist, Expel 30 British Marines From Camp Refugees: The two incidents spotlight growing friction with the allies that are leading the relief effort. Archived 2012-11-07 at the Wayback Machine" Los Angeles Times. May 3, 1991. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
- ^ a b Fisk. The Great War for Civilisation, p. 680.
- The Toronto Star. May 5, 1991. Throughout his interrogation, Fisk noted that the policemen held wooden cudgels and repeatedly stated that his report was false: "They desperately wanted it to be a lie, my report about the Turkish soldiers who looted food and bottles of water and blankets from the Kurdish refugees at Yasilova...[Superintendent of the police station Hassan] Luru wanted me to say that it had not happened, that I had defamed the Turkish army."
- ^ ""I don't read Hugh Pope" – Robert Fisk". Hugh Pope. 2011-11-20. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- New York Times, May 4 1991.