Turkey MFA: Questions and answers regarding Turkish policy toward Iraq

	1. We do not want a humanitarian crisis, as we faced in 1991. (At that time, 500 thousand people, fleeing from Iraq turned up at our doorstep overnight. It is much easier to cope with a massive influx within Iraq, before they reach the Turkish mountains. Actually, this is also in the interest of all third countries. Experience shows that, after entering Turkey, thousands of these displaced persons showed up in Europe, a few weeks later. It will be better to care for and protect civilians from any form of prosecution, as close to their homes as possible.)

	2. We do not want the Turkomans of Iraq to face ethnic cleansing. (This is a possibility and certain indications have emerged to that effect. The Turkomans have constantly been persecuted in the past and are roughly 15% of the Iraqi population.)

	3. We do not want a political vacuum. (No party should feel that they have the upper hand to undermine Iraq's territorial integrity and unity.)

	4. Terrorist elements must not be allowed to benefit from a political vacuum, as has been the case just after the Gulf War.

With these concerns in mind, let us emphasize that any Turkish force that may enter into northern Iraq will be assigned no combat mission. Their aim will be purely humanitarian.