Hood event
Encyclopedia
The Hood event was an incident on July 4, 2003 following the 2003 invasion of Iraq where a group of Turkish military personnel
operating in northern Iraq
were captured, led away with hood
s over their heads, and interrogated by the United States military
. The soldiers were released after sixty hours, after Turkey
protested to the United States.
Though neither side ever apologized, a US-Turkish commission set up to investigate the incident later issued a joint statement of regret. In addition, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
wrote a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
expressing sorrow over the incident. The "Hood Event" damaged diplomatic relations between Turkey and the United States and marked a low point in US-Turkish relations. While the incident received comparatively little coverage in the United States, it was a major event in Turkey, many of whose citizens saw it as a deliberate insult and nicknamed it "The Hood Event".
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Turkey had long viewed northern Iraq, with its large Kurdish population, as a possible national security threat. During the 1980s and 1990s, Turkey fought against the PKK
, a terrorist group in Kurdistan. More than 30,000 Turks were killed and millions more were displaced. During the war, the PKK established multiple bases outside Turkey in Iraq and Syria.
Turkish fears intensified after the creation of the Kurdish enclave
following the 1991 Gulf War
. In 1996, after a civil war had broken out in the Kurdish enclave, Turkey deployed troops there to monitor a ceasefire between the two main Kurdish factions. In 1998, Turkey was able to use military threats to force neighboring Syria to expel PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan
. However, because of the United States, it was never able to move decisively against the Kurds in northern Iraq.
Under American protection, Iraqi Kurdistan
had evolved into a successful semi-autonomous region. US pressure helped lead to a peace deal in 1999 between the major Iraqi Kurdish factions, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq. While both parties officially swore off independence, the Turkish government remained sufficiently concerned, and continued to keep troops in northern Iraq.
(AKP). The election of the AKP led to an immediate increase in tensions with America, especially after the Parliament's decision not to send any Turkish troops to Iraq further eroded US-Turkish relations. 70% of the parliament member were Justice and Development Party
members.
On April 24, 2003, only two weeks after the fall of Baghdad
, a dozen Turkish special forces were arrested in Da Quq (a tribal village 45 minutes north of Kirkuk). According to Time
, a weekly world news magazine, they were wearing civilian clothes and intended to infiltrate Iraq, lagging behind a humanitarian convoy, in order to destabilize the region to a level where Turkey could reasonably send its own peacekeeping force. However, they were intercepted by American forces, who claimed they had received prior knowledge of the group.
Colonel Bill Mayville, a U.S. brigade commander who was responsible for the region where this took place, accused the Turks of having links to the Iraqi Turkoman Front (ITF), an ethnic-Turkish militia. However, US forces made no effort to incarcerate the Turks, merely detaining them for a day, with food, security and comfort, and then escorting them back to the Iraqi-Turkish border. In the following months, Turkey continued its policy of sending small groups of soldiers into Iraqi Kurdistan, ostensibly to search for PKK bases. According to The Economist
, Turkey also began covertly arming the ITF as a lever against the Iraqi Kurds.
's 173d Airborne Brigade
raided a safehouse in the Kurdish-held Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah
. Seemingly acting on an intelligence tip that there were individuals in the safehouse plotting to assassinate the Iraqi-Kurdish governor of the province of Kirkuk. The safehouse instead housed members of the Iraq's Turkoman Front and Turkish Special Forces soldiers, including a colonel and two majors, whom they promptly arrested. Turkish sources refer to eleven soldiers commanded by a major. An unknown number of other individuals were also detained during the raid, although thirteen were later released. Apart from these, and the Turkish soldiers who were to be released after intense diplomatic activity, a British citizen named Michael Todd, who was by chance in town to seek his half-Iraqi daughter, was also put in custody and kept for a fortnight under trying conditions.
. Following direct protests by Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
to US Vice President
Dick Cheney
, as well as by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül
to US Secretary of State Colin Powell
, the Turkish soldiers were released after sixty hours in captivity.
The Hood event made a much greater impact in Turkey than in the West, which by and large agreed with the U.S. government's interpretation. While the story received comparatively little coverage outside of the Middle East, Turkish newspapers loudly condemned the raid, referring to U.S. forces with nicknames such as "Rambo
s" and "Ugly Americans". On the last day of the incident, Hilmi Özkök
, Chief of the General Staff (Turkey), declared that the hood event had caused a "crisis of confidence" between the US and Turkey.
The event periodically gets front coverage in the Turkish media, such as in the mass-circulation daily Hürriyet
, in keeping with new declarations made to the press by the involved parties and new details divulged. Most recently, the key witness in the Ergenekon investigation
, Tuncay Güney, alleged that the event was the U.S. response to the discovery of documents about the clandestine Ergenekon network's Iraq connection in the archives of Tariq Aziz
.
The Hood event was the inspiration for the 2006
Turkish film Valley of the Wolves Iraq
. The film opens with the depiction of an almost identical incident, but then turns into an action movie in which the Turkish "hero" finally kills the "evil" American responsible for the incident.
Turkish Armed Forces
The Turkish Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. They consist of the Army, the Navy , and the Air Force...
operating in northern Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
were captured, led away with hood
Hood (headgear)
A hood is a kind of headgear that covers most of the head and neck and sometimes the face. They may be worn for protection from the environment, for fashion, as a form of traditional dress or uniform, to prevent the wearer from seeing or to prevent the wearer from being identified.-History and...
s over their heads, and interrogated by the United States military
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
. The soldiers were released after sixty hours, after Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
protested to the United States.
Though neither side ever apologized, a US-Turkish commission set up to investigate the incident later issued a joint statement of regret. In addition, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
wrote a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
expressing sorrow over the incident. The "Hood Event" damaged diplomatic relations between Turkey and the United States and marked a low point in US-Turkish relations. While the incident received comparatively little coverage in the United States, it was a major event in Turkey, many of whose citizens saw it as a deliberate insult and nicknamed it "The Hood Event".
Background
Kurdistan Workers Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party , commonly known as PKK, also known as KGK and formerly known as KADEK or KONGRA-GEL , is a Kurdish organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdistan and greater cultural and political rights...
, a terrorist group in Kurdistan. More than 30,000 Turks were killed and millions more were displaced. During the war, the PKK established multiple bases outside Turkey in Iraq and Syria.
Turkish fears intensified after the creation of the Kurdish enclave
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
following the 1991 Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. In 1996, after a civil war had broken out in the Kurdish enclave, Turkey deployed troops there to monitor a ceasefire between the two main Kurdish factions. In 1998, Turkey was able to use military threats to force neighboring Syria to expel PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan
Abdullah Öcalan
Abdullah Öcalan , Kurdish founder of the terrorist organization called Kurdistan Workers' Party in 1978.Öcalan was captured in Nairobi and extradited to the Turkish security force, and sentenced to death under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code, which concerns the formation of armed gangs...
. However, because of the United States, it was never able to move decisively against the Kurds in northern Iraq.
Under American protection, Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
had evolved into a successful semi-autonomous region. US pressure helped lead to a peace deal in 1999 between the major Iraqi Kurdish factions, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is a Kurdish political party in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was founded on June 1, 1975, by coordinations between Jalal Talabani and Nawshirwan Mustafa...
and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq. While both parties officially swore off independence, the Turkish government remained sufficiently concerned, and continued to keep troops in northern Iraq.
The Iraq War
By 2003, many Turks had come to see American foreign policy in the region as a threat. Matters were not helped by the election in 2002 of the Justice and Development PartyJustice and Development Party (Turkey)
The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament...
(AKP). The election of the AKP led to an immediate increase in tensions with America, especially after the Parliament's decision not to send any Turkish troops to Iraq further eroded US-Turkish relations. 70% of the parliament member were Justice and Development Party
Justice and Development Party (Turkey)
The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament...
members.
On April 24, 2003, only two weeks after the fall of Baghdad
2003 invasion of Baghdad
The Battle of Baghdad also known as the Fall of Baghdad was a military invasion of Baghdad that took place in early April 2003, as part of the invasion of Iraq....
, a dozen Turkish special forces were arrested in Da Quq (a tribal village 45 minutes north of Kirkuk). According to Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, a weekly world news magazine, they were wearing civilian clothes and intended to infiltrate Iraq, lagging behind a humanitarian convoy, in order to destabilize the region to a level where Turkey could reasonably send its own peacekeeping force. However, they were intercepted by American forces, who claimed they had received prior knowledge of the group.
Colonel Bill Mayville, a U.S. brigade commander who was responsible for the region where this took place, accused the Turks of having links to the Iraqi Turkoman Front (ITF), an ethnic-Turkish militia. However, US forces made no effort to incarcerate the Turks, merely detaining them for a day, with food, security and comfort, and then escorting them back to the Iraqi-Turkish border. In the following months, Turkey continued its policy of sending small groups of soldiers into Iraqi Kurdistan, ostensibly to search for PKK bases. According to The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, Turkey also began covertly arming the ITF as a lever against the Iraqi Kurds.
Raid on Al Sulaymaniyah
On July 4, 2003, soldiers from the United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
's 173d Airborne Brigade
173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team is an airborne infantry brigade combat team of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy...
raided a safehouse in the Kurdish-held Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah
Sulaymaniyah
Sulaymaniyah is a city in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq. It is the capital of Sulaymaniyah Governorate. Sulaymaniyah is surrounded by the Azmar Range, Goizja Range and the Qaiwan Range in the north east, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluje Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with...
. Seemingly acting on an intelligence tip that there were individuals in the safehouse plotting to assassinate the Iraqi-Kurdish governor of the province of Kirkuk. The safehouse instead housed members of the Iraq's Turkoman Front and Turkish Special Forces soldiers, including a colonel and two majors, whom they promptly arrested. Turkish sources refer to eleven soldiers commanded by a major. An unknown number of other individuals were also detained during the raid, although thirteen were later released. Apart from these, and the Turkish soldiers who were to be released after intense diplomatic activity, a British citizen named Michael Todd, who was by chance in town to seek his half-Iraqi daughter, was also put in custody and kept for a fortnight under trying conditions.
Negotiations
The Turkish military immediately threatened retaliatory measures, including closing Turkish airspace to US military flights, stopping the use of the southern Incirlik air base and sending more troops into northern Iraq. A delegation of Turkish military and diplomatic officials immediately left for Sulaymaniyah on Saturday to discuss the matter with the Americans, but according to the Turks most of the American commanders were off celebrating Independence DayIndependence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
. Following direct protests by Turkish Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Turkey
The Prime Minister of the Turkey is the head of government in Turkish politics. The prime minister is the leader of a political coalition in the Turkish parliament and the leader of the cabinet....
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...
to US Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, as well as by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül
Abdullah Gül
Dr. Abdullah Gül, GCB is the 11th and current President of the Republic of Turkey, serving in that office since 28 August 2007. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister from 2002-03, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003-07....
to US Secretary of State Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
, the Turkish soldiers were released after sixty hours in captivity.
Aftermath
John Rambo
John Rambo is an iconic fictional character and the basis of the Rambo saga. He first appeared in the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell, but later became more famous in the film series, played by Sylvester Stallone...
s" and "Ugly Americans". On the last day of the incident, Hilmi Özkök
Hilmi Özkök
General Hilmi Özkök was the 24th Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces. He took up that post on August 28, 2002 and served until August 30, 2006 when he retired and was succeeded by General Yaşar Büyükanıt.Özkök has expressed support for Turkey's alignment with the European Union,...
, Chief of the General Staff (Turkey), declared that the hood event had caused a "crisis of confidence" between the US and Turkey.
The event periodically gets front coverage in the Turkish media, such as in the mass-circulation daily Hürriyet
Hürriyet
-External links:* * ** * *...
, in keeping with new declarations made to the press by the involved parties and new details divulged. Most recently, the key witness in the Ergenekon investigation
Ergenekon network
Ergenekon is the name given to an alleged clandestine, Kemalist ultra-nationalist organization in Turkey with possible ties to members of the country's military and security forces...
, Tuncay Güney, alleged that the event was the U.S. response to the discovery of documents about the clandestine Ergenekon network's Iraq connection in the archives of Tariq Aziz
Tariq Aziz
Tariq Aziz and Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and a close advisor of former President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s when both were activists for the then-banned Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party...
.
The Hood event was the inspiration for the 2006
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
Turkish film Valley of the Wolves Iraq
Valley of the Wolves Iraq
Valley of the Wolves: Iraq is a 2006 Turkish action film, directed by Serdar Akar, about a Turkish commando team which goes to Iraq to track down the US military commander responsible for the Hood event....
. The film opens with the depiction of an almost identical incident, but then turns into an action movie in which the Turkish "hero" finally kills the "evil" American responsible for the incident.
External links
- Paratroopers of the 173d Airborne Brigade in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, 173rdAirborne.com, 26 March 2003—21 February 2004.