2008 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq day of the operation, Turkish President Abdullah Gül made a telephone call to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, to brief him on the details of the incursion. He also invited Talabani to come to Turkey. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on the night the ground operation began, and later U.S. President George W. Bush. The United States was guarded in its response to the incursion, requesting that Turkey take care to only target the PKK, to "limit the scope and duration of their operations," and to work with Iraqi
Recep Çelik Recep Çelik Recep Çelik (born June 10, 1983 in Diyarbakır, Turkey) is a Turkish racewalker. The tall athlete weighs , and is a member of the İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyespor, where he is coached by Nikolai Radionov. He graduated 2004 in physical education and sports from the Vocational College of Aksaray at Niğde University before he studied Regional Public Administration at Anadolu University. He is the holder of the national records in 10 km walk (road) and 20 km walk (road). Recep Çelik represented Turkey in the 20km race walk event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He is qualified to