Turkey threatens US over Iraq casualties

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that he told US officials that Turkey would no longer cooperate with the US over Iraq if ethnic Turks continued to be harmed in US military operations against suspected insurgents in northern Iraq.

The US military has launched an offensive in Tal Afar, a largely ethnic Turkish city in northern Iraq. Iraqi and American forces say the operation is aimed at trying to root out hundreds of militants and restore government control.