U.S. and Turkey deadlocked on aid
Joel Brinkley/NYT The New York Times
Friday, February 21, 2003
Ankara rejects Powell's insistence on a decision for troop deployment
WASHINGTON Brinkmanship over the American request to stage U.S. forces in Turkey came to a head Thursday when Secretary of State Colin Powell demanded a decision from Ankara by the end of the day, prompting the Turkish foreign minister to issue a terse, crisp refusal.
"A reply today is not being discussed," said Foreign Minister Yasir Yakis.
The Bush administration has made it clear that staging thousands of troops in Turkey so they can open a northern front in an attack on Iraq is a critically important element of the Pentagon's war strategy. Just a week ago Turkish officials indicated that they would grant permission for the deployment.
Based in part on that, troop ships loaded with heavy armor and the 4th Infantry Division set sail for Turkey, and now they are idling off the Turkish coast. But early this week, Turkey unexpectedly raised its request for aide by $6 billion and refused to submit the staging question to the Parliament for a vote until Washington agreed to pay the additional amount. In public and in private, however, Washington said no.
"Our position is firm," Powell said Thursday morning, and Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, added: "This is not a bluff." Before the new request came in, Washington had offered Ankara $26 billion in grants, loans and loan guarantees.
But Ankara was not backing down either. Without the additional money, "we have found the figures insufficient, and we are not looking at the request favorably," Economy Minister Ali Babacan said in a newspaper interview published Thursday.
While it remains possible that Turkey and the United States might eventually agree, "time is moving," Powell chastened the Turks on Thursday morning.
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iht.com
LOL... The ongoing wrangle between the US and her Turkish ally (?!) is ludicrous... As I said, it's yet another diplomatic faux pas savamment orchestré -- craftily set off-- by the White House. Indeed, one doesn't push around an ally as badly needed as Turkey is for any war against Iraq. I'm not sure, however, that Sharon and his war cabinet have been duped by the US administration's stage-managed bungling of its war diplomacy.... Sharon is thinking to himself, "Mr Bush, you can fool public opinion, you can posture as a frustrated warmonger... BUT YOU AIN'T GONNA FOOL ME!!"
Gus |
