Turkey’s Erdogan steels MPs for looming Iraq war

Parliament is dominated by Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), still suspected by the secular military for its Islamist roots despite its insistence it is now a democratic, pro-Western group. It won a landslide election in November.
"The decisions we have to make concerning a possible war are not because we support war. When there is no chance left to block a war it means participating in re-establishing peace as soon as possible," Erdogan told AKP deputies.
Washington has signalled concern over the long delay in Ankara’s response to U.S. requests to use Turkish bases and wants the government to move quickly because of a nine-day religious holiday next week.
But a senior AKP official told Reuters the government would wait to see the U.N.’s stance before voting on whether to open its bases. He said the government on Thursday would ask parliament to approve a U.S. request to repair Turkish bases and other military facilities, postponing the critical decision on the stationing of troops.

NORTHERN FRONT
Analysts say a secondary northern front from Turkey would relieve a main invasion force that could come from the flatter lands towards Kuwait in the south, possibly shortening any war.
It could stretch President Saddam Hussein’s troops and possibly allow special forces to seize oilfields in the north that Washington believes Iraq might try to sabotage.
Erdogan said Turkey must secure a role in deciding what happens in Kurdish-held northern Iraq after a potential war.
"The most important priority…is to be involved with the shape that northern Iraq takes. It is crucial that Turkey play a part in the decision-making," he said.
Ankara fears upheaval will provide northern Iraq, run by Kurds since the end of the 1991 Gulf War, an opportunity to cement its autonomy, which could stir unrest among Turkey’s large Kurdish minority who mainly live near the Iraqi border.
Separatists Kurds have waged a bloody campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey since 1984, killing more than 30,000 people. Fighting has eased dramatically since their rebel commander Abdullah Ocalan was captured three years ago.
Erdogan repeated Turkey’s desire for a second Security Council resolution authorising the use of force against Iraq for allegedly building weapons of mass destruction.
"We are waiting for the U.N. Security Council decision with hope.We are still hoping the U.S. administration will not enter any operation outside of the U.N.," he said.
"But we see that the Iraqi regime is not taking the necessary steps to secure peace," he added, signalling Turkey may be moving towards backing the United States without a new U.N. resolution.
Meanwhile, witnesses in southeast Turkey said on Tuesday the Turkish army had amassed around 20 tanks in a town near the mountainous border. A military official in the area said the tanks would be sent to the border in the coming days.
Turkey has been building up troops and equipment in the region in recent weeks and already has several thousand troops stationed inside northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels.