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Turkey Edging Open Door to 62,000 U.S. Troops
Tue February 25, 2003 12:17 PM ET

By Hidir Goktas

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey said Tuesday it was preparing to open ports and air bases to some 62,000 U.S. troops for a possible invasion of Iraq -- once it concludes a deal with Washington on financial support and military co-operation.

The government submitted a motion to parliament outlining the plans for U.S. forces Tuesday, and a vote is expected on Wednesday or Thursday.

The Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP, has a big majority despite internal dissent over what would be an unpopular war.

Washington had expected a parliamentary go-ahead a week ago.

U.S. ships carrying armor, munitions and supplies for the Fourth Infantry Division, a body of 20,000 to 30,000, waited off Turkey's Mediterranean coast for the green light from Ankara.

A copy of the motion seen by Reuters included giving permission for the deployment of 62,000 foreign troops for six months. It would also allow the United States to send up to 255 warplanes and 65 helicopters to Turkey.

Turkish and U.S. officials also continued talks Tuesday on a multibillion dollar financial package to ease the effects of higher interest rates on its huge debt, rising oil prices and a fall-off in tourism revenues. Turkish officials have said a financial deal is now well within reach.

KURDISH FEARS

The troop plan could conceivably be passed before agreement on terms. Deployment might then go ahead only after the signing of a memorandum of understanding incorporating final terms.

At Iskenderun port, a cargo ship docked and discharged heavy trucks of the kind used to carry tanks or other heavy armor. Authorities say U.S. movements around the port now fall under an interim deal allowing Washington to upgrade bases and ports.

Britain and the United States say they will allow about two weeks before bringing to a vote a United Nations Security Council resolution accusing Iraq of harboring weapons of mass destruction and approving armed action.

The AKP, viewed by the powerful military with suspicion because of its Islamist roots, has bargained hard for a financial package. The United States had grown concerned in recent weeks that agreement might not be reached quickly enough to move troops in time for a strike.

But a northern front against Iraq is an important part of U.S. military planning. Troops pouring southwards from Turkish territory would relieve pressure on a possible main invasion force heading from the flatter, southern lands around Kuwait.

The AKP has resisted the move toward war throughout. Though it denies any Islamist links, it has always argued for closer relations with Muslim neighbors while pursuing its aim of European Union membership.

Turkey has said it does not want to be seen as the "regional bully" and does not want its troops to fire a single shot in Iraq. But it seeks to deploy thousands of its own troops in northern Iraq -- an area ruled by two Kurdish groups and beyond Baghdad's rule since the 1991 Gulf War.

Turkey has made it clear it would do everything necessary to stop creation, in the chaos of war, of an independent Kurdish state it fears could reignite Kurdish separatism within Turkey, home to the Middle East's largest population of Kurds.

The Foreign Ministry Tuesday sought to ease rising tensions with Iraqi Kurds and said Turkish troops in northern Iraq would only seek to secure Turkey's borders and to prevent a flood of refugees from spilling across the border.

Iraqi Kurds, for their part, deny ambitions to independence and say they could not accept tens of thousands of Turkish troops in northern Iraq. The danger of confrontation between Turkish troops and Kurds clearly haunts U.S. military planners.

By Louis Meixler
Associated Press Writer

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's Cabinet agreed Monday to host tens of thousands of U.S. combat troops for a possible Iraq war, a crucial step in realizing an American strategy that calls for a two-front attack that would surround and divide the forces of Saddam Hussein.

Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said Turkish and U.S. official are still negotiating the agreement and that a vote by parliament _ which could come as early as Tuesday _ could be delayed until the terms are finalized.

Washington has been pressing Turkey to approve the deployment. U.S. ships are waiting off the coast of Turkey to unload supplies for the 4th Infantry Division, which would lead an armored thrust from Turkey into northern Iraq if there is a war.

There was no immediate information on how many troops the Cabinet had agreed to allow into the country. Officials said that issue was being negotiated.

Turkey's public is overwhelmingly against a war and there has been strong opposition among legislators to allowing U.S. troops to use their territory to launch an attack.

However, the deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party, which has a large majority in parliament, said he expected parliamentary approval.

"There will not be a problem," legislator Reha Denemec told The Associated Press. "The government approves it."

In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer welcomed the Cabinet's move.

"We're pleased by the actions taken by the government of Turkey to date," he said. "There are still some t's to be crossed and i's to be dotted."

A Western diplomat said talks between the two sides on the details of the agreement were expected to continue until late Monday and possibly early Tuesday.

"Negotiations (with the United States) to reach an agreement on the military, political and economic issues have reached an important stage," Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said. "However, they are still continuing. But to have kept the process any longer would not have been very healthy, therefore it was decided to send the authorization to parliament today."

Sener said that many ministers had reservations, but "in the end, the ministers unanimously endorsed to send it to parliament."

The Cabinet motion calls on parliament to allow the deployment of U.S. troops and authorize Turkish soldiers to enter Iraq.

The negotiating deadlock was broken late last week, when Washington offered Turkey $5 billion in aid and $10 billion in loans to cushion the Turkish economy from the effects of war, diplomats said.

Washington wants to use Turkey to open a northern front in a war in Iraq, a strategy that would divide the Iraqi army between an armored attack in the north and a thrust from the Persian Gulf.

Tens of thousands of Turkish troops are expected to cross into northern Iraq if there is a war, a plan that is raising tensions with Iraqi Kurds who control an autonomous zone in the north of the country.

The Turkish military on Sunday and Monday increased its forces along the border, sending in more soldiers, artillery and armored personnel carriers.

Turkey fears that Iraq could fragment if there is a war, with Kurds declaring an independent state. That, Turks fears, could encourage Turkey's Kurdish minority.