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

To: Condor who wrote (74933)	2/17/2003 4:05:25 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Turkey is shopping for a higher price from the EU. I wouldn't be surprised to see the US begin floating the Kurdish card in response: Turkey Signals Delay in Decision on U.S. Troop Deployments By REUTERS Filed at 2:37 p.m. ET ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey entered into a political war of nerves with the United States on Monday when it signaled it was delaying a decision on allowing U.S. troops to deploy on Turkish soil for a possible invasion of Iraq. Prime Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters at a European Union emergency summit on Iraq his government would not ask parliament to open military bases to American forces on Tuesday as it had previously said it would. 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The United States had made it clear it expected a decision from parliament on Tuesday on permitting the deployments for a secondary ``northern front'' military experts say would make any action against Baghdad quicker and, for Washington, less costly. ``There is a plan that doesn't involve a northern front,'' one Western diplomat said. ``The Americans may be approaching a point where they must make a decision there. They feel time is short.'' Gul said earlier he would talk to officials in Washington to iron out differences and was quoted by a Greek government spokesman as telling Greek premier Costas Simitis the bill would be put to parliament ``in the next few days.'' Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said Turkey would not open its territory to U.S. forces without an agreement on financial aid. ``The question of whether or not we send the proposal (to parliament) will come on to the agenda only after an agreement. I can't give a time because first we have to reach an agreement,'' Yakis told the state-run Anatolian news agency. Down on the Iraqi border, military sources said Turkish and U.S. military officials were meeting Iraqi Kurdish groups who control northern Iraq. Witnesses saw a helicopter arc over the border to an army base for talks aimed at easing tension between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds that could hamper any U.S. action. SEEKING GUARANTEES Gul has acknowledged that ultimately Ankara must back its closest NATO ally but seeks guarantees for its own security. If Ankara fails to reach terms with Washington quickly, the northern front could possibly be abandoned and along with it a U.S. financial package to cushion Turkey's economy. ``There are certain points we give importance to. Without reaching an agreement on those points, I believe it will be difficult to persuade parliament,'' Gul said before leaving Ankara. Turkey is seeking a financial package, which analysts say could total between $4 billion and $15 billion or more to cushion it from the economic impact of a war. ``There are issues in the economic, political and military spheres where we don't yet see eye-to-eye,'' Economy Minister Ali Babacan was quoted as saying by the state Anatolian news agency. ``We want documents that are very clear and complete to remove all doubts,'' Babacan said. Babacan and Yakis met President Bush at the weekend in Washington, where Bush laid out the aid package. A security source in Diyarbakir said two U.S. transport planes had landed at the main airbase in the southeastern city on Sunday. The total number of U.S. personnel there upgrading facilities under an interim agreement now numbered about 1,000. Proposals to defend Turkey from any Iraqi retaliation were at the heart of a NATO dispute last week. France, Germany and Belgium argued that preparing measures to defend Turkey against attack suggested war was a foregone conclusion. A compromise was agreed on Sunday, allowing planning to go ahead. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday NATO had agreed to send AWACS surveillance plans, a missile defense system and anti-chemical and anti-biological warfare units to Turkey. KURDISH SEPARATISM Turkey also appears to be at odds about the role its own troops might play in northern Iraq. While it seeks to avoid combat, it is eager to remain independent of any coalition command in monitoring events and ensuring no independent Kurdish state emerges in an area beyond Baghdad's control since 1991. Turkey fears the establishment of a Kurdish state could rekindle Kurdish separatism that has killed some 30,000 people. Those suspicions are reciprocated by Kurds who fear Ankara may use the turmoil of war to establish its authority. A military source told Reuters officials of two Kurdish groups running northern Iraq, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), met U.S. and Turkish military commanders in Silopi near the Iraqi border on Monday. ``They are discussing the various issues that could emerge during an Iraq operation. Furthermore, the Turkish Armed Forces will explain what kind of measures it intends to take during the possible operation,'' he said. Turkish troops have been in north Iraq since the 1990s, pursuing Turkish Kurdish rebels who have retreated there. nytimes.com