Turkey’s Iraq Policy

Of course we can’t ignore France and Germany’s moves to renew and emphasize their friendship at Versailles this week. The European Union’s foundation was originally laid on their resolve never to fight again and to cooperate instead. Two true statesmen, Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer, saw this through with a remarkable prescience.
Germany’s stance is clear: it’s opposed to US domination over Asia and US attempts to trounce Germany’s oil interests. One can’t say the same of France. Will France have the chance to exercise its veto against the US at the UN Security Council? Probably not. To the contrary, we think that the US will bypass both the United Nations and the Security Council in its determination to carry out an operation against Iraq.
We Turks don’t hide our hatred of war and our love and devotion towards peace. The Turkish Republic is doing its best to promote peace. However, such initiatives as suggesting to Saddam Hussein that he draw up a new Iraqi constitution would give this dictator the chance to draw breath for another year and keep deceiving the world. Ankara has to consider its Iraq policy in the long-term and look towards the postwar era.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION