Turkey’s Lawmakers Fail to Approve US Troop Bill

The Bush administration has long been pressing Turkey to allow the deployment of some 62,000 combat troops on Turkish soil. From there, the forces could enter Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq in the event of a possible war, to open a second front against Iraqi government forces. Military planners say a second front would accelerate a U.S. victory and reduce the number of likely casualties.
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party has been in lengthy and often tense negotiations with the United States over the troop deployment, and has been holding out for billions of dollars in economic aid to cushion the effects of a war on Turkey’s economy.
It has also been demanding that Turkish troops be allowed to be deployed together with U.S. forces in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. The main purpose of a Turkish presence would have been to prevent the Iraqi Kurds from declaring an independent state in northern Iraq. The United States had largely agreed to all of Turkey’s conditions, prompting the Justice and Development Party leader, Tayyip Erdogan, to assure the nation that the bill allowing U.S. deployment would be passed.
But analysts say many lawmakers, including those from the Justice and Development Party, apparently bowed to public pressure in rejecting the motion. Even as the vote was being held thousands of Turks gathered in Ankara’s main Kizilay Square to protest a possible war against Iraq. Recent opinion polls show that nine out 10 Turks are opposed to war against Turkey’s fellow Muslim neighbor.