Turkish Parliament Votes to Sent Troops to Iraq
U.S. Hopes for 10,000 Soldiers; Provisional Government Opposes Deployment
By Suzan Fraser
Associated Press
Tuesday, October 7, 2003; 12:29 PM
ANKARA, Turkey – -- Turkey's parliament voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to allow troops to be sent to Iraq, a move that could lead to the first major contingent of Muslim peacekeepers there. But Iraq's Governing Council said it opposes any deployment of Turkish soldiers.
The statement by the U.S.-appointed council in Baghdad reflected the history of tensions between the neighboring nations and many Iraqis' fears that Turkey aims to grab territory, suppress Kurds or dominate Iraq.
Despite Iraqi concerns, the United States has been pressing hard for a Turkish deployment -- and the parliament vote will help patch up ties damaged in March when lawmakers refused to allow U.S. troops into Turkey to invade Iraq.
Turkish lawmakers voted 358-183 in a closed-door session in favor of dispatching troops.
The motion gives the government the authority to send troops for a year, but does not specify how many troops would be deployed or when. Washington has asked Turkey to contribute some 10,000 soldiers.
The vote does not mean that soldiers will immediately be dispatched. The government is still negotiating the terms of deployment with the United States, which could take weeks or even longer.
Turkish officials have said their country could send 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers and that the troops would largely be based in the Sunni Muslim section of central Iraq that has been a hotbed of anti-American violence. Turks are overwhelmingly Sunnis.
Washington has made a worldwide call for money and troops to help rebuild Iraq. The United States has 130,000 troops in Iraq, and other countries have more than 20,000, including around 70 from the mostly Muslim nation of Albania.
The United States hopes that having a major Muslim nation in its coalition in Iraq will counter the image among many Arabs that the U.S.-led administration is a Christian occupation of a Muslim nation.
But Turkey would come to Iraq with a lot of historical baggage.
The Turkish Ottoman Empire ruled today's Iraq for about 400 years until World War I. For the past 15 years, Turkey has been fighting Turkish Kurdish separatists who have bases among their Kurdish brethern in northern Iraq.
Iraq's 15-member Governing Council met Tuesday to debate the prospect of a Turkish deployment "and after long deliberations we reached consensus on issuing a statement opposing the arrival Turkish troops," said councilmember Mahmoud Othman, a Kurd.
But the council delayed issuing the statement -- and Othman believed it was because of pressure from the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority.
"We believe any interference from a neighboring country, either north, south, west or east, is unacceptable," said Mouwafak Al-Rabii, a Shiite councilmember and longtime human rights activist. "This interference is unacceptable. This interference will jeopardize Iraq and that country."
Turkey, meanwhile, is demanding that the United States help Turkey crack down against Turkish Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and has made that support a virtual condition to the deployment of peacekeepers.
A U.S. counterterrorism delegation met with Turkish officials last week and came to an agreement on countering the rebels that could include military force. Parliamentary approval of the deployment could strengthen Turkey's hand in negotiations with Washington.
Just before the vote, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party to rally support for dispatching troops. The public is strongly opposed to sending soldiers.
Erdogan has been seeking to avoid a repeat of the prewar debacle. The government had been talking to Washington for months before it asked parliament in March to let U.S. troops deploy in Turkey. That motion failed by just four votes despite the government's huge majority in parliament, sparking tensions with the United States.
Ahead of Tuesday's vote, officials have been emphasizing that Turkey needs to have a say in Iraq and instability in Iraq could affect Turkey in the future.
Turkey is also worried that Kurds in northern Iraq could in the future break away from Iraq and form a separate state -- influencing Turkey's Kurds. Some 37,000 people have been killed in Ankara's 15-year war with Kurdish separatists in southeastern Turkey.
The United States agreed to lend Turkey $8.5 billion to support its economy, but has made clear that the loan hinges on Turkey's "cooperation in Iraq."
A majority of Turks opposed the Iraq war and are against sending peacekeepers to Iraq.
"It is unacceptable that our children's lives will be put into danger for the United States' dirty interests," said Suleyman Celebi, the head of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions. The union has some 300,000 members.
To help deflect opposition, Turkey's government has been trying to distance itself from the unpopular occupation of Iraq.
"Those who go there must go there to help bring peace to Iraq," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said. "Turkey will definitely not be part of the occupation." |
