Turkish PM denies WSJ Uludere report

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A recent Wall Street Journal report that said U.S. aerial vehicles provided the intelligence that precipitated the December 2011 Uludere massacre was "made up,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, according to private broadcaster NTV.

"The Armed Forces already made a statement [about the report]. Unmanned air vehicles work directly under the Turkish army's command,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying by NTV today. "We acted on our own devices.”

The legal process on the issue is continuing, Erdoğan added.

The botched air raid by the Turkish military that killed 34 civilians on Dec. 28, 2011, was conducted based on intelligence received from an unmanned U.S. aerial vehicle, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had previously reported.

The 34 victims in Uludere, most of them teenagers, were bombed after allegedly being mistaken for militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but were actually local villagers involved in the smuggling of small goods from Iraq. (hurriyetdailynews)

WSJ report cannot harm Turkey-US relations, Pentagon says

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A report published in the Wall Street Journal regarding intelligence sharing between the U.S. and Turkey will not harm the relations between the two allies, Pentagon spokesperson George Little said.

The Wall Street Journal reported on May 16 that the intelligence leading to a botched air raid by the Turkish air force that killed 34 civilians on Dec. 28 was gathered by a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle.

The Turkish army denied the report the next day.

Little said he did not know the source of the Wall Street Journal's report. "I will not comment on the intelligence [mentioned in the report]. Leaks happen, unfortunately," he said.

Turkey and the United States have a long-lasting and powerful alliance, Little said, adding that the story published in the Wall Street Journal was "just" a story. "[This report] does not have the power to harm a rooted, strong relationship," he said. (Hürriyet)