US commanders stress Turkey's key role in Iraq, Afhan operations

Turkish cooperation, in terms of both soldiers and bases, has been pivotal for US operations in Iraq and Iraq, top US commanders told Congress yesterday. "Incirlik [near Turkey's Mediterranean coast] is a really pivotal base for us, both for the re-supply of Iraq and for the re-supply of Afghanistan," Gen. Duncan McNabb, commander of the US Air Force's Transportation Command, told the House Armed Services Committee. "[Turkey has] forces deployed in Afghanistan," David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command responsible for Afghanistan and Iraq, told the committee. "In fact, they're operating with considerable skill – [and] very impressively in the Kabul district, which is their area of responsibility there." He added, "And then, of course, there is Turkish involvement in a relationship with Iraq which, again, all of us sought to work together, as we did to promote the relationship of Iraq with its other neighbors as well."