Posted on 03/01/2003 8:54:07 AM PST by RCW2001
Edited on 03/01/2003 10:23:24 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament speaker said on Saturday a motion to allow U.S. troops into the country for a possible war in Iraq had been rejected, a member of parliament told reporters. The issue is crucial to U.S. military plans and Turkey's relations with Washington.
The vote, carried out behind closed doors, ended with 264 votes for and 251 votes against with 19 abstentions -- an apparent slim victory for the government.
But the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) challenged the result on the grounds that the government had not won the 267 votes needed to represent a majority of the 534 lawmakers present in the assembly.
The government must now decide whether to try to present a similar resolution to the assembly again and gather the few votes it needs.
The resolution, which would also have cleared the way for dispatching Turkish troops to Iraq in case of war, had drawn widespread opposition in Turkey.
Fearing the economic and political impact of any conflict on its borders, Ankara had been reluctant to agree to any role in the war. Rejection of Washington's request will however deprive Turkey of U.S. financial support and a say in the future of northern Iraq, where Turkey has key interests.
U.S. ships are currently waiting with supplies off Turkey's Mediterranean coast to unload. For months Ankara and Washington have been working on an agreement which was expected to include some $6 billion in U.S. grants for Turkey and some $24 billion in loan guarantees.
18:54 Turkish parliament votes in favor of allowing U.S. troops to use Turkish soil as springboard for war on Iraq (Reuters)
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament on Saturday approved a long-awaited motion allowing deployment of thousands of U.S. troops here for a possible invasion of Iraq, a deputy told Reuters.
The resolution, which also clears the way for dispatching Turkish troops to Iraq in the case of war, was passed after hours of debate on an issue which has generated widespread opposition in Turkey.
Parliament's decision, which is crucial to U.S. military planners, paves the way for stationing 62,000 U.S. soldiers in Turkey to establish a "northern front" which experts say would shorten any war.
Fearing the economic and political impact of any conflict on its borders, Ankara had been reluctant to agree to any role in the war. A rejection of the U.S. request would however have deprived it of U.S. financial support and any say in the future of northern Iraq, where Turkey has key interests.
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