A rchive Date
[ 01-09-2005 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Turkey ]
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[http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/world/1724166
Turkey balks at being host to U.S. troops
Associated Press
Jan. 4, 2003, 12:44AM
ANKARA, Turkey - President Bush is right to send ground forces to the Persian Gulf to pressure Iraq into disarming, but Turkey is wary about hosting a large number of U.S. troops, the foreign minister said Friday.
Turkey is a leading U.S. ally in the Middle East but its people overwhelmingly oppose war in Iraq. The government has repeatedly balked at U.S. requests to deploy thousands of U.S. troops in Turkey for a possible invasion of neighboring Iraq.
"The United States is our ally but there might be issues on which the interests of allies do not meet," Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis told NTV television. "It would not suit us. Then, Turkey would become a country opening a front against its neighbor."
About 50 U.S. warplanes fly regular patrols over northern Iraq from Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, where 1,500 U.S. soldiers are based. Support from Turkey is considered key to any U.S. operation against Iraq.
Yakis did not outright reject a possible troop deployment.
"Such a decision should be taken in the broadest consensus with public, parliament and non-governmental organizations," he said. "The opposition is obvious but it is not clear what can be accepted."
The government earlier said that it would make a decision on a troop deployment after U.N. inspectors checking Iraq for weapons of mass destruction release their report in late January.
Still, Yakis said he supported U.S. troop deployment in the Middle East. Washington has already deployed thousands of troops to the region.
Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul is scheduled to visit Syria, Egypt and Jordan beginning today, in part show that he is doing all he can to avoid a war. State Minister Kursad Tuzmen is expected to visit Baghdad next week on a similar mission.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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