Posted on 03/21/2003 4:17:25 PM PST by blam
Has US swallowed Turkish surprise?
March 22 2003 at 01:41AM
By Orhan Coskun
Ankara - Turkey said on Friday it had agreed to allow United States warplanes to overfly Turkish territory in attacks on Iraq, but rejected American demands it keep its troops out of the Kurdish-controlled north.
Parliament approved the overflights on Thursday as the US unleashed its attack on Iraq. But Ankara then linked use of airspace to free access for its troops to Iraq.
The United States, which sees an attack from the north as a way of relieving the burden on an invasion force now pressing northwards to Baghdad, said the two issues should not be linked.
By the end of a hard evening's bargaining by US officials in Ankara and telephone conversations between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the Americans appeared to have won only a partial victory.
"In the end it was determined the opening of airspace was in Turkey's interests," Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul said.
The opening of airspace would allow US warplanes to more easily launch raids on Iraqi installations, harry Iraqi troops, deploy special forces and seize oil fields.
Foreign Minister Abdulah Gul, however, announced later in the evening that Turkish troops would cross into Iraq to keep any refugees in camps on Iraqi territory and prevent them spilling over into Turkey.
He also said Turkey had suffered from the activity of Turkish Kurdish rebels based in the north since the region went beyond Baghdad's control after the 1991 Gulf War.
"Turkish troops will go. A vacuum was formed in northern Iraq and that vacuum became practically a camp for terrorist activity. This time we do not want such a vacuum," he said.
He did not say when Turkish troops might enter, but it seemed likely they would move quickly as the war unfolds.
In Washington, a US officials said in reaction to Gul's statement that the United States had not agreed to a Turkish move into northern Iraq.
"We know the Turks think that it's necessary to use the military to establish a humanitarian corridor in the north but frankly we don't agree," the Bush administration official, who asked not to be named, said.
"At this point we're still discussing with them, but we haven't agreed to and don't think the military is necessarily the way to do that, to take care of the humanitarian situation (in northern Iraq)," the official said.
Kurdish groups have said they will resist any Turkish invasion.
Washington fears a "war within a war" - clashes between Turkish troops and local Kurds and disruption of the US war campaign. Ankara sees the region as of vital strategic importance and seeks freer action beyond the US-led command.
Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was blunt in his advice to Turkey at a Pentagon briefing.
"We have special forces units connected to Kurdish forces in the north... and you can be certain that we have advised the Turkish government and the Turkish armed forces that it would be notably unhelpful if they went into the north in large numbers."
The dangers are clear for Washington if its troops drive up into the north, where important oil fields are located, and are confronted with Turkish forces outside coalition command.
Turkish troops have been present in northern Iraq in smaller numbers since the 1990s, operating against rebel Turkish Kurds who have retreated to mountains there from south-eastern Turkey. The troops have coexisted uneasily with Iraqi Kurdish groups who have governed the area since the 1991 Gulf war.
Eyewitnesses near the border said some 50 Turkish military vehicles, including at least two tanks, were waiting just on the Turkish side, ready to enter Iraq.
Turkey fears Iraqi Kurds may use the chaos of war to proclaim a state that could reignite separatism on Turkish soil.
"Turkey simply wants to have some control over events on its borders. Wouldn't any country want that in circumstances like this?" a Turkish official said.
Kurds, for their part, fear tens of thousands of Turkish troops could yet move to smother the autonomy they enjoy.
Friday's final agreement on overflights appeared to bring to the end a rather bleak chapter in the history of Turkish diplomacy. For months, Ankara has wrangled with its closest Nato ally, repeatedly pulling back from agreement as war approached.
The Justice and Development Party, in office for less than four months, has been pilloried in the media for "bungling" talks, souring relations with Washington and allowing a multi-billion dollar US financial package to slip away.
Parliament, reflecting perhaps public opposition to war, rejected three weeks ago a motion that would have allowed 62 000 US troops to enter Turkey for a land-based attack. Washington withdrew a $30-billion (about R252-billion) aid package.
Then came the finale late this week as even the extension of overflight rights seemed in doubt.
Markets have taken a drubbing as fears rise that the impact of war driving up interest rates could put in doubt servicing of a huge domestic debt and conduct of a $16-billion IMF-backed crisis programme. A Turkish intervention in Iraq could further disturb markets and put financial aid further from reach.
May as well get Turk2 over here also.
The Turks may not be the finest folks in the world, but they have every reason to be actively looking out for their interests.
Not during our war!
Check out comments on these threads:
Thanks, I've been there already.
Turkey doing anything forceful in Iraq will only hurt their own self interests ... IMO.
Funny how Turkey decides to invade its muzzlim neighbor at the first opportunity, wonder what the Arab league will have to say about that!.
The whole regions boundaries are constantly in flux and are artificial anyway, a carved up Iraq may well be the price of an American/Turkish alliance in the region.
God knows the Turks are better than the Saudis, that hornets nest of anti-western italian table cloth on the head wearing SOB's where 19 of the 21 9/11 hijackers came from.
Times are changing, and the USA will do what is in our national interest, as long as Republicans are in charge.
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