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Turkey just went up several notches on the political ladder in my mind =)
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Border police on Friday denied entry into Turkey to a former U.S. Marine who is leading an anti-war group of "human shields" headed for Iraq ahead of a possible U.S.-led attack, an official said.
Ken O'Keefe, the founder of the "Human Shield Mission" protest group who flew into Istanbul from Italy, was not let into the country when he presented a passport issued by the World Service Authority.
A spokesman of Istanbul airport, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Turkey does not recognize this passport.
The spokesman said O'Keefe protested, shouting that he had traveled across the world with that passport and was a "citizen of the world."
The U.S.-based World Service Authority issues passports on the basis of an article of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights that guarantees the right to travel freely. The authority says the passport is recognized by more than 150 countries.
Five other activists accompanying O'Keefe were allowed into the country, while O'Keefe flew back to Italy.
O'Keefe, 33, is a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War. He gave up his U.S. citizenship four years ago to protest U.S. foreign policy.
Another 38 members of the group arrived in Istanbul on Friday in a convoy of two red double-decker buses and several cars that has been traveling by land from Britain.
Scores of Turks waving signs saying "No to war" greeted the convoy in Istanbul's downtown Taksim square despite a heavy snowstorm.
The group, which includes Americans, Britons, Australians, Swiss and Greeks, will be joined by several Turks, private NTV television reported.
They plan to reach Baghdad next week. The protesters left London on Jan. 25.
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Border police on Friday denied entry into Turkey to a former U.S. Marine who is leading an anti-war group of "human shields" headed for Iraq ahead of a possible U.S.-led attack, an official said.
Ken O'Keefe, the founder of the "Human Shield Mission" protest group who flew into Istanbul from Italy, was not let into the country when he presented a passport issued by the World Service Authority.
A spokesman of Istanbul airport, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Turkey does not recognize this passport.
The spokesman said O'Keefe protested, shouting that he had traveled across the world with that passport and was a "citizen of the world."
The U.S.-based World Service Authority issues passports on the basis of an article of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights that guarantees the right to travel freely. The authority says the passport is recognized by more than 150 countries.
Five other activists accompanying O'Keefe were allowed into the country, while O'Keefe flew back to Italy.
O'Keefe, 33, is a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War. He gave up his U.S. citizenship four years ago to protest U.S. foreign policy.
Another 38 members of the group arrived in Istanbul on Friday in a convoy of two red double-decker buses and several cars that has been traveling by land from Britain.
Scores of Turks waving signs saying "No to war" greeted the convoy in Istanbul's downtown Taksim square despite a heavy snowstorm.
The group, which includes Americans, Britons, Australians, Swiss and Greeks, will be joined by several Turks, private NTV television reported.
They plan to reach Baghdad next week. The protesters left London on Jan. 25.
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