Turkish Troops to Iraq

Why? Let’s have a look at the issue of the motion for sending troops to Iraq. First, you will invite U.S. forces, you will give permission for them to use your ports, you will authorise them to rent villages and after say "now go back" to the U.S. forces. I do not claim to go to war and I did not. However, to be honest, I was fed up with the image that Saddam created and his threats. I say this as a person who once was an intelligence manager of NATO’s South Region. And what happened at the end? We are again on the way to the U.S. Why?…

First of all, I must say that Turkey could not put the opportunity of the Saddam crisis to good use. In other words, Turkey exaggerated the threat and showed off in a way by a trick of the EU. What is the result? We all watched and did nothing. The Republican People’s Party (CHP), as an oppositional party did the same thing. In CHP, there were people who were thinking hard on the issue, however they also could not be effective. The Turkish public, as it does always, turned its face to its "brothers".

Now, the U.S. demands Turkish soldiers. Moreover, the number of soldiers it demands is around 10,000. Now, the government makes evaluations for military and political risk. What are these evaluations for? We must not forget that everybody bears the consequences of his act. In short, Saddam’s words before the attack, "You will not be able to stay in Iraq. I won’t let you", are valid today. Calling this a guerilla fight, we should be aware of this in the following days. Every day several American soldiers and civilians die and the number of dead will probably increase. For this reason, the U.S. administration tries to find some measures to take for the reactions from the American public. The U.S., who did not need a U.N. decision before the attack, now looks for a U.N. decision. Turkey forms a policy according to information from the press.

It is not easy to predict Turkey’s decision and its position. This is a test for democracy. Expressing a list of words related with democracy like parliament, free will and at the end giving a decision by saying "What can we do? The result is this."

The important point here is American public opinion. Senators, House of Representatives members etc. may forget everything but the American public do not forget what was done. Don’t think that I defend sending soldiers to Iraq. I wouldn’t leave Iraq and especially northern Iraq, the land of my ancestors, in the hands of foreigners and I wouldn’t leave Mosul, Kirkuk or my Turkmen to them either. I would cooperate with my ally and have the right to be involved in the decisions in Iraq. What has Poland and other countries got to do in Iraq?

What will happen now? Will we wait for the results of the risk evaluations? We should not forget that the U.S. is a strategic ally. Because, this alliance is proved.