Turkey meeting to urge Saddam to cooperate
The Associated Press
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
ANKARA Turkey announced Tuesday that it would host a regional peace meeting Thursday in Istanbul, reflecting the deep reservations that neighbors of Iraq have in supporting a U.S.-led war.
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt and Jordan will attend the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said.
"A storm is coming, a fire is raging toward our countries," Yakis said. "Let's do what is possible to stop it."
The ministers are expected to discuss ways to persuade Iraq to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors.
"We definitely don't have regime change or sending Saddam into exile on our agenda," Yakis said.
U.S. officials have said that military action could be averted if Saddam were to seek exile.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia also said Tuesday that the meeting would not seek to press Saddam to step down.
"I think it is incorrect to talk about interference in Iraq's internal affairs," the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al Faisal, said. "Talk about amnesty or an exile is something that should be determined by the Iraqi people."
A regional meeting would be a chance for Iraqi neighbors to show Saddam that he is surrounded and has no choice but to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors - and to show Washington that they can only support a war if all other options are exhausted.
Turkey also gets a chance to show its own people that it is trying to avoid a clash that could destabilize the country and harm its economic recovery. Recent polls indicate that more than 80 percent of Turks are against a conflict.
The meeting on Thursday is expected to be followed by a similar gathering in Syria a few days later.
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