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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eashoa' M'sheekha who wrote (49412)	10/4/2002 5:22:18 PM
From: Eashoa' M'sheekha	Respond to of 281500

U.S. Needs International Backing over Iraq -Turkey Last Updated: October 04, 2002 02:43 PM ET By Hatice Aydogdu ANKARA (Reuters) - NATO-member Turkey, a close ally of Washington bordering Iraq, said on Friday any U.S. military action against Baghdad must have international backing. The United States would look to Turkey for air bases and other support if it tries to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, allegedly for developing weapons of mass destruction. But Turkey fears a strike will hit its troubled economy and bring turmoil to its frontiers. The country's top political, military and intelligence officials sounded a note of caution after meeting to discuss Iraq. "An operation not based on international law cannot be accepted," Presidential Spokesman Tacan Ildem told a news conference after the Ankara meeting. "We support Bush's approach relying on international law and aiming to act in cooperation with the United Nations," he added. Ankara was the focus of U.S. and Iraqi lobbying this week. A top U.S. official set out her government's case for a tough new U.N. resolution that would allow military action against Baghdad if it obstructed the work of inspectors looking for chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz was also in Ankara to urge Turkey not to back a strike. He warned of turmoil and said Iraq would fight hard against any incursion. The United States and Britain are trying to draw up a new U.N. resolution that would tighten the conditions under which U.N. weapons inspectors would return to Iraq. Baghdad agreed last week to allow inspectors to return under the existing resolutions and permanent Security Council members Russia, China and France are cautious about any new resolution. President Bush has also made clear he is prepared to act outside the U.N. framework if the world body does not back tough new measures. TEMPT THE KURDS Turkey already allows U.S. warplanes to use an air base in its south to patrol a no-fly zone imposed on northern Iraq after Baghdad's troops were driven out of Kuwait by a U.S.-led coalition in the 1991 Gulf War. But Turkey desperately wants to avoid war, fearing it could further damage its fragile economy. Officials are also concerned the turmoil could tempt Iraqi Kurds to seek an independent state, which might reawaken separatism among Turkey's Kurds. Friday's meeting was attended by the powerful chief of Armed Forces General Staff, General Hilmi Ozkok, who visited a major military base at Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey earlier this week and briefly flew there again on Friday. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who has repeatedly cautioned against a U.S. strike, was present, along with Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel and head of the MIT national intelligence agency Senkal Atasagun. The meeting was chaired by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, a non-executive head of state, whose presence is often used to underline the gravity of an event. Ildem also had words of caution for Iraq, which was one of Turkey's biggest trade partners before the Gulf War. He suggested Baghdad should work openly with arms inspectors when they return after a four-year absence. "We expect Iraq to act responsibly; not to endanger regional balances... We will keep making our evaluations on every kind of possibility, even the ones that Turkey does not want to happen." But he sought to play down the significance of the meeting. "At this point there is no need to convene the parliament for an extraordinary session...this was not an extraordinary meeting."