Turkey Should Join in War Against Iraq, says Governing Party Leader

Mr. Erdogan also repeated Turkey’s desire for a second United Nations resolution specifically authorizing the use of force against Iraq if it fails to give up its weapons of mass destruction. The United States has threatened military action to disarm Iraq. The Turkish parliament is expected to debate whether to allow U.S. troops to take part in a possible invasion of northern Iraq from Turkish soil.
Turkey, which is NATO’s only Muslim-majority member state, fears that a war in Iraq could encourage Iraqi Kurds to seek independence and that in turn could cause unrest in the Kurdish-dominated regions of southeastern Turkey.
Turkey has been battling a bloody Kurdish separatist campaign since 1984. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the violence. However, the fighting has eased dramatically since rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured three years ago.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials say Secretary of State Colin Powell has further proof of Iraq’s failure to disarm. Officials say Mr. Powell will produce surveillance photographs and transcripts of intercepted conversations when he briefs the U.N. Security Council Wednesday. They say this will show Iraq moved banned materials and cleaned-up suspect sites before U.N. weapons inspectors arrived.