Turkey awaits UN decision on Iraq

Turkey was a key US ally in the 1991 Gulf War and was expected to play a similarly important role in any new war against Saddam Hussein.
The new NATO military commander, US Marine Corps General James Jones, met with Turkey’s top general yesterday to discuss Turkish cooperation, which would be essential in opening a northern front from which US forces could invade Iraq. NATO has promised military support to member-nation Turkey if it comes under attack from Iraq.

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s issued his comments amid a deepening split between the United States and Europe over Iraq. In Istanbul, the visiting German foreign minister, whose country has been one of the most outspoken opponents of military action, said the trans-Atlantic allies should ”cool down” the sharpening debate.

Still, Erdogan made the strongest comments yet by a Turkish leader against the US campaign against Iraq. Turkey is under heavy American pressure to allow the use of its bases to attack Iraq, but public opposition to war is strong in the country.
Erdogan, who heads the ruling party and is considered the behind-the-scenes leader of the government, said eliminating nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in Iraq was a worthy goal.
”But let’s not kid ourselves,” he told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Daovs, Switzerland. ”No one is interested in eliminating their own weapons of mass destruction. They’re interested in strengthening their own weapons of mass destruction.”
Asked if he was accusing the United States of hypocrisy, Erdogan said: ”I meant all the countries in the world. The United States is also included.”
Murat Mercan, the deputy chairman of Erdogan’s party, denied that Erdogan was accusing the United States of ”hypocrisy.” He said in Ankara that Erdogan told him by phone he was talking generally about all countries.
He also said that Erdogan meant to say countries are not interested in reducing their expenditures on weapons of mass destruction.
He said his government would wait for a UN decision before deciding whether to support military action. ”The decision which is important for us is the decision of the UN Security Council,” said Erdogan, who is expected to become prime minister after he runs in parliamentary by-elections in March.
Turkey has long said it would prefer to have UN approval for any attack on Iraq, but its top ally, the United States, wants it to allow tens of thousands of American troops to use its bases to open a northern front against Iraq. Washington said it does not need UN approval to launch a war.