Turkey says won’t be rushed into Iraq war decision
Senior U.S. officials visited Turkey last week offering financial support and pushing for a clear stance from Ankara on how far it would back military action if Washington went to war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, whom it accuses of developing weapons of mass destruction.
Turkish officials say the Americans were clearly told of the Turkish public’s and parliament’s opposition to war and given a detailed breakdown of the costs of conflict to Turkey’s economy — costs Turkey expects to be compensated for."Things are definitely operating at two speeds: the U.S. speed and the Turkish speed," one Western diplomat told Reuters.Gul told Turkish newspapers he planned to send a high-level delegation to Iraq soon to press Saddam to comply with United Nations resolutions.
WHY RUSH?
He said Ankara was doing all it could to prevent war and would make no decision until the results of U.N. arms inspections become clear in late January.
"Of course they (the United States) say decide immediately. But we say ‘you haven’t decided yet so why do you expect us to rush?’," Gul said.
"Turkey is an open society. We have to inform parliament. For that we will hold a closed session of parliament in the coming days," he said. Gul’s newly-elected Justice and Development Party has its roots in political Islam but works hard to preserve Turkey’s close ties to Europe and the West. A drive for European Union membership is a central plank of its foreign policy. "You have to look at the point where U.S. interests meet Turkish interests. I believe the interests of both will coincide at the optimal point," Gul said. "We’ve only been in office a month. We have just opened the files. The U.S. is talking to 50 countries. They don’t expect anything urgently from them. Why from us?"
The United States wants to put in place all the weapons and manpower for a high-tech war on Iraq and would like the go-ahead to set up a launching pad in Turkey. Turkey could provide air bases for action in mountainous northern Iraq and act as a conduit for special forces. But the main thrust of any invasion would be across Iraq’s flat southern frontier. Ankara also fears that war may encourage an independence drive by Iraq’s Kurdish minority, stirring trouble among Turkey’s own restive Kurdish population. Gul stressed that Turkey was not trying to protect the Iraqi government, which he called "a pitiless dictatorship". "We have no sympathy for the regime. We have set our strategy as this: We do not want war because we are true members of this region. Everyone else will leave and we will be staying behind."
