LONDON (Jerusalem Post and AP) — Documents expected to be leaked allege that Turkey allowed citizens to smuggle weapons into Iraq, and that the US helped Kurdish terrorists. Wikileaks is planning to release files that show Turkey has helped al Qaeda in Iraq, according to London-based daily Al Hayat. The newspaper also reported that the US helped the PKK, a Kurdish rebel organization.
One of the documents, a US military report, reportedly charges Turkey with failing to control its borders, because Iraqi citizens residing in Turkey provided al-Qaeda with supplies to build bombs, guns and ammunition.
A Wikileaks administrator also told Al Hayat that the site needs Turks to volunteer to translate documents about Turkey’s role in the war in Iraq and its bid for EU membership.
Other documents show that the US has supported the PKK, which has been waging a separatist war against Turkey since 1984 and has been classified by the State Department as a terrorist organization since 1979. The US military documents call the PKK “warriors for freedom and Turkish citizens,” and say that the US set free arrested PKK members in Iraq. The documents also point out that US forces in Iraq have given weapons to the PKK and ignored the organization’s operations inside Turkey.
On Wednesday, the Obama administration said that it had alerted Congress and begun notifying foreign governments that the WikiLeaks website is preparing to release sensitive US diplomatic files that could damage US relations with friends and allies across the globe.
Officials said the documents may contain everything from accounts of compromising conversations with political dissidents and friendly politicians to disclosures of activities that could result in the expulsion of US diplomats from foreign postings.
