Question:  (Off mike) Can you shed any light, give us any clarity on the U.S. military support for the Turkish strikes over the weekend? Specifically, when did Turkey notify the U.S. military of the strikes? And secondly, did United States intelligence that's been provided to Turkey provide also the specific targets that were used? 

 

           MR. MORRELL: Let me put it this way. We had ample notification of the airstrikes by the Turkish air force over the weekend on PKK positions in northern Iraq. I know there's been some question in some of the reporting as to whether or not we had notification. I can sit here today and tell you emphatically there was indeed notification provided to us prior to the bombing -- bombings; that it was communicated to us through an apparatus that we have set up in Ankara, the Ankara Coordination Center.  

 

            This has been open for some months now -- I think it dates back to this summer -- in which you have Turkish military personnel along with U.S. military personnel working to share intelligence. And with that system in place, I believe the actual communication went from the Turkish General Staff to the Ankara Coordination Center. Within the coordination center it was relayed to our folks, and from there it goes to a wider audience within our operation.   

 

            So we feel as though we had advance notification of their mission -- missions over the weekend, and I think that stands contrary to some of the reporting that's been out there. 

 

            Q     Follow-up? 

 

            Q     So on this target information, did the United States provide the specific targets for the strikes -- (off mike)? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: I can't tell you with any certainty whether or not intel, that we have already acknowledged that we share -- as the secretary has spoken about on a number of occasions we are efforting to share with the Turks intelligence with regards to the PKK, a group that we, as they -- as the Iraqis, I should point out, view as terrorists, so it has, we said before, been our stated goal to share intelligence with the Turks about PKK holdouts and operations. But beyond sort of our general desire to share that information with them, I'm not going to get into the specifics as to whether or not intel we shared led to these particular strikes. 

 

           Q     So you don't have any complaints about Turkish coordination, Turkish-U.S. coordination, or -- (off mike) -- Baghdad aware of the airstrikes? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: I don't have any complaints from this podium as to Turkish coordination in -- 

 

            Q     Well, has Baghdad had any complaints? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: You'd have to talk to Baghdad. 

 

            Yeah, Tom? 

 

            Q     Let me just try it one more time. Have you been told or have you heard that the command in Baghdad has expressed frustration over lack of knowledge? And granted that the coordination cell heard it, might it be that it did not disseminate across the American military at a speed satisfactory to some of the commands? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: That's a question, Tom, I think is best asked to Baghdad. I personally have not heard any complaints emanating from Baghdad about notification prior to these missions over the weekend. 

 

            I just haven't. I'm sorry. 

 

            I think it's worth also noting that, you know, Turkey is a sovereign nation. And it -- we believe, when it comes to the PKK, operating, you know, in self-defense. And so they don't have to seek our permission. We have a cooperative relationship with this old and close ally. We have an even more cooperative relationship post -- I guess it was November the 5th when Prime Minister Erdogan visited with President Bush at the White House in which there was a public pledge to try to increase the amount of intelligence we share, to help them combat this enemy, the PKK. So there is coordination. There is notification, but there's not permission sought and as far as this building is concerned, the coordination that took place was adequate. 

 

            Q     Geoff, can you give us the -- 

 

            Q     (Off mike) -- today that the -- or AP was running -- saying that the coordination -- they're trying to improve coordination between the Turks and the U.S. in light of this lack of, sort of notification. Is there an improvement process taking place right now? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: I think we're at least trying to improve coordination with our allies, but in particular, this is clearly -- this is clearly a relationship that is key right now with regards to the immediate threat the Turks face, and so I think ever since -- not just -- in the wake of the Erdogan visit with the president, you then saw the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Hoss Cartwright, go over to Turkey with General Petraeus, I think it was on November the 20th, meeting with their counterparts within the Turkish military to try to figure out a way in which to sort of implement -- try to design the procedures by which we would coordinate even more effectively than we have in the past. So there is ongoing -- there are ongoing efforts to figure out the best ways to coordinate with the Turks, with the Iraqis, with our military as we all collectively deal with the PKK threat. 

 

            Q     One follow-up. Don't they -- doesn't Turkey have a higher obligation to coordinate and notify us because they're using U.S.-made F-16s on these strikes? It's our equipment, we sold it to them, there's always strings attached to the arm sales in terms of notification.   

 

            MR. MORRELL: Tony, I'm not -- you probably are more aware of the strings attached if there are such strings than I am. But I would tell you this, that I am not aware of any higher obligation that the Turks may have than anybody else who buys our military equipment. All I can tell you is, in this case, we believe as though the coordination, the advance notice was adequate. We are not -- this building is not complaining and it's -- what's done is done. 

 

            Q     (Off mike) -- Baghdad -- Iraq -- 

 

            MR. MORRELL: I've answered this questions three times now, Tony. If you want to talk to Baghdad about how they feel about it, talk to Baghdad. 

 

            Q     Geoff, can you give us an update on what's happening on the ground there today? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: Where? 

 

            Q     At the border. 

 

            MR. MORRELL: I have no operational updates for you as to what's happening. I have not heard of anything significant, but I'd refer you to the Turks, I'd refer you to MNF-I. I'm not here to provide you with operational updates. 

 

            Yeah? 

 

            Q     Can I ask on another subject? 

 

            Q     Just one more thing on Turkey. 

 

            MR. MORRELL: Yes? 

 

            Q     There was a limited land incursion by Turkish forces at some point yesterday for some hours. Any comments on that? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: No, I don't. I mean, I think I've stated in general terms the fact that we, as the Turks, as the Iraqis, view the PKK as a terrorist organization, and that the Turks, in light of the threat posed by the PKK, have certain rights in terms of self-defense, and they are choosing to exercise those. 

 

            I would, I think, want to also make the point that Secretary Rice made yesterday in Baghdad when she said, you know, that we continue to be concerned, of course, at the potential for the loss of innocent life during these military operations, and about the potential impact it could have on Iraq as a whole in terms of being a destabilizing influence. But like a lot of things in that part of the world, you are weighing and balancing competing or perhaps even conflicting concerns. So while we all have concerns of the terrorist threat posed by the PKK, we also have concerns for the stability of the nation of Iraq. And that is the balancing act that we as a military, we as a government are undertaking right now. 

 

            Q     On Turkey, Geoff, one more on Turkey? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: Yeah. 

 

            Q     You described the advance notification as adequate. Did it come sufficiently in advance of the actual strikes to allow the airspace to be cleared to avoid -- 

 

            MR. MORRELL: If it came insufficiently in advance of the strikes, it wouldn't be adequate. 

 

            Q     So there was not a problem in terms of -- 

 

            MR. MORRELL: I am not here voicing any complaints about the notification we had with regards to the Turkish airstrikes over the weekend.   

 

            Q     Can I just ask, does that mean you had notification before they crossed into Iraqi airspace? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: I'm not going to get into specifics as to when we were told. 

 

            Q     You stated it's adequate, so we're asking you what that means. 

 

            MR. MORRELL: I'm not going to get into specifics about when we were told and what we deem to be sufficient. All I can tell you is that we feel as though we had adequate prior warning about the impending airstrikes. 

 

            Anybody else on Turkey? 

 

            Q     How concerned are you that such airstrikes and incursions could destabilize the region? 

 

            MR. MORRELL: I think I just answered that question. We balance and we weigh our competing needs and desires. We understand the need of the Turks to combat this terrorist threat, and we also understand the Iraqis' desire to stabilize their country. And so that is the balancing act. That is the difficult position we and they find themselves in. But we are working our way through it and have no reason to believe at this time that we won't be able to. 

 

            Q     Geoff? 

 

           MR. MORRELL: Yeah. 

 

            Q     New topic. 

 

            MR. MORRELL: Okay, new topic. Let's go.   

 

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