Troops talks speed up in Ankara

In an unscheduled, closed-session meeting Tuesday, head of the military and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed a possible decision to deploy troops in Iraq to help the stabilization mission of the United States and Britain in a sign of intensifying talks on the US request as it pushes for a quick decision.

The meeting of Erdogan and Chief of Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok in Erdogan’s office, which lasted more than 1.5 hours, followed a Cabinet meeting late Monday, where Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul briefed the government members on his visit to Washington that ended last weekend and the troops issue that was raised in that visit.

Ozkok reportedly briefed Erdogan on preparations undertaken by the General Staff on a possible troops deployment in Iraq, as well as the upcoming meeting of the Supreme Military Council (YAS).

Ozkok and Erdogan are also expected to meet President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in a summit Thursday.

The government announced it would discuss a possible dispatch of troops with the president, General Staff and Foreign Ministry experts before making a final decision.

"We are trying to evaluate the issue in all respects. Both the Foreign Ministry and the General Staff will examine that issue. We know about the sensitivity of the Turkish public. I hope it will be settled in the way most proper to protect Turkey’s interests," government spokesman Cemil Cicek told reporters after Monday’s meeting.

Despite signals of urgency from Washington, the government has signaled that a decision on whether or not to send troops might take a few months, saying the issue must be carefully and extensively examined.

"They’re studying the request. We have been assured it’s under active consideration, and we’ll expect to hear when they’re ready," a spokesman for the State Department said in Washington.

Spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States wanted to hear a quick decision because that was what Gul had told U.S. officials while in Washington: "Why the Secretary said he expected to hear as soon as possible? Because that’s what the Turkish Foreign Minister told him, that they would take it up and look at it immediately in Ankara, and then we’ll see when they get — when they get done," he said.

When asked about Turkish media reports that a decision would take a few months, Boucher declined to comment and said instead that the U.S. administration would wait to hear from the Turkish government on the timetable.

Invitation from Iraqi council for Turkish troops
Gul said in Washington that a NATO or U.N. mandate would make the Turkish government’s job easier as it tries to secure deputies’ support for sending troops to Iraq.

Newspaper reports said that a mid-way formula could be found if NATO agreed to provide logistics support for Turkey when necessary. In this way, the government might justify a decision to send troops to Iraq, saying this was authorized by NATO.

Another formula could be to receive a special invitation from Iraq’s newly-set governing council for Turkish troops. Assistant Secretary of State Marc Grossman told the CNN Turk television Tuesday that this could be an interesting option.

Boucher said Gul and U.S. officials looked at the issue of international mandate under which Turkish forces could operate in Iraq and added that the issue was still under discussion.

"We know of 30 countries already whose participation in stabilization operations is confirmed. So the effort being made for stabilization in Iraq is clearly international," Boucher said.

The State Department announced Monday that some 30 countries have already announced commitment to contribute to efforts to stabilize Iraq and Boucher said whether the issue would be taken to the U.N. platform depending on how discussions with countries, including NATO members such as France and Germany, would proceed.

Gul also said that Turkey would like to send troops to Iraq as part of a broader political perspective that would allow Turkey to have a say in the political restructuring of Iraq.

"We do not want to be there simply as a police force," Gul said.

Turkey has also offered assistance to help restructuring of Iraq in the field of construction, water and electricity supply, etc.

Boucher said the United States had given back "a non-paper that went through some Turkish proposals and on how they might work" during Gul’s visit.

The government meeting Monday concluded that a parliamentary authorization was necessary to send troops to Iraq. But it might find it difficult to get the approval amid growing anti-U.S. sentiment among even its own deputies, sparked by detention of Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq on July 4.

Risks associated with sending troops to Baghdad and its neighborhood are another discouraging factor as more and more U.S. soldiers are killed in ambushes and attacks in this area called the "Sunni Triangle."