TEHRAN Turkish Ambassador to Iran Sencar Ozsoy said that his government had closed down its consulate in Urumiyeh, the capital of Western Azerbaijan Province. Ozsoy, talking to the TEHRAN TIMES yesterday said, We closed down our consulate for security reasons. On Feb. 19, Iranian Kurds clashed with the security forces guarding the Turkish Consulate in Urumiyeh, which resulted in the death of one Iranian. Strict security had been provided for the Turkish Consulate in order to prevent any unwanted incident.

The Iranian security forces have also taken strong precautionary measures to ensure full security for the Turkish Embassy in Tehran. No unfavorable incident took place when the Iranian Kurds staged a demonstration in front of the Turkish Embassy following the kidnapping of Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan was kidnapped by Turkish security forces with the assistance of the CIA and Mossad agents from the Greek Embassy in Nairobi on Feb. 15.

Despite all the security measures taken by the Iranian government, Turkey closed down its consulate in Urumiyeh last week. Turkish diplomatic missions in various European capitals faced even violent protests by the Kurds, but Ankara did not close down any of its missions there.