Ghostrider,
I don't think of World Tribune as a reliable source but here is some confirmation of the Turkey situation.
US truck convoys leave Turkish port
By Leyla Boulton in Ankara and Peter Spiegel in Washington
Published: March 6 2003 20:37 | Last Updated: March 6 2003 news.ft.com
The US has been unloading military equipment at a port in south-eastern Turkey and moving it by road towards the Iraqi border despite the Turkish parliamentary vote against the deployment of 62,000 US troops.
The general staff of Turkey's armed forces insisted the equipment movements were part of last month's agreement allowing the US to modernise Turkish bases and were not part of preparations to introduce ground forces.
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But those modernisation accords allow the US to make logistical preparations for a possible attack on Iraq, and people familiar with Pentagon thinking have said that Turkey could still be used for airlifting troops and equipment into northern Iraq, even if ground forces are barred by the Turkish parliament.
A new vote on US ground forces is now widely expected, and could come soon after a by-election on Sunday in which Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), is expected to enter parliament ready to take over as prime minister.
Political tensions in Ankara have eased dramatically since Wednesday, when General Hilmi Ozkok, Turkey's top general, said the armed forces had backed the government's failed motion. The statement may have paved the way for parliamentary approval of the deployment of the US 4th Infantry Division.
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General Tommmy Franks, head of US Central Command, said on Wednesday that the equipment for the division remains aboard transport ships off the coast of the southern Turkish port of Iskenderun.
The NTV television station, however, reported two convoys totalling 50 trucks had set off on Thursday from Iskenderun to a base at Mardin, near the Iraqi border.
US officials have insisted publicly that the inability to insert heavy ground forces into northern Iraq through Turkey will not measurably hamper war efforts.
But people who have spoken to US officers, particularly in the army, said there is real concern that using only light infantry - one alternative to the 4th Infantry would be the 101st Airborne - in northern Iraq will narrow the US's margin for error. It would make it more difficult to ensure Kurdish forces do not come into conflict with neighbouring Iraqi and Turkish populations.
"We all recognise that there have been frictions between the Kurds and the Turks in northern Iraq and we certainly believe that is a factor," said Gen Franks. "We're working with representatives of both the Kurds and the Turks and will continue to do that."
Beyond the movement of equipment from Iskenderun, local media in Turkey have reported a wide range of steps taken by the US to prepare for operations in the north of Iraq.
The Radikal newspaper reported an agreement had been reached to rent a section of the airport in Gaziantep, in southern Turkey near the Syrian border.
The paper also said Turks and Americans were close to a seperate deal on Mersin port, about 80 miles west of Iskenderun, and that a US Embassy official responsible for disaster control was looking for houses and warehouses for rent in Silopi, a town just north of the Iraqi border.
Suleyman Karaman, director of Turkish railways, told the newspaper that talks were continuing on terms for the US to use the rail network for transporting troops and equipment.
In a roundup of the US preparations, the newspaper also said that deepening and renovation efforts were under way at six ports, and that 750 American soldiers were working on the modernisation of the airbase at Batman, near the Iraqi border. Contractors said, however, that the modernisation work had been slowed following parliament's vote on Saturday against the deployment |
