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 take part in the same event at the 2012 Olympics in London. Recep Çelik won the 20km event of the 2011 Balkan Race Walking Championship held on April 9 in Bucarest, Romania, clocking 1:22.31 and setting a new Turkish record. He qualified for participation in the 20 km walk event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Çelik tested positive for the anabolic steroid Metenolone in May 2012 and was subsequently handed a two-year ban from sports. According to IAAF database, his personal bests are: Recep Çelik Recep Çelik (born June 10, 1983 in Diyarbakır, Turkey) is a Turkish racewalker. The tall