Turkey’s unease held in check by US

The United States hastily dispatched a few thousand more troops to northern Iraq and pledged to remove Kurdish fighters that entered the oil-rich city of Kirkuk Thursday, after reports from the region strained nerves in Ankara, which has said would not tolerate a Kurdish administration in the city.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkish military observers would be in Kirkuk soon to track U.S. promises not to allow the northern Iraqi oil hub to be controlled by Kurdish forces.

Hundreds of "peshmerga" forces from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) poured into Kirkuk early on Thursday and residents looted government buildings, including the land registry office.

"Powell gave his word that new U.S. forces will be sent to Kirkuk in a few hours to remove the peshmerga who have gone in there," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters after speaking to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell by telephone.

"They assured us that they would not allow a fait accompli in northern Iraq. Their past assurances are still valid," Gul told reporters and added during a live interview with NTV television that the U.S. guarantees were sufficient.

"In the face of these guarantees there is no need for any tension," he told the NTV.

Hours after Gul’s remarks, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer reassured Turkey that American armed forces will be in control of the northern oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

"We’ve been in contact with officials in Turkey as well as free Iraqis in the north and I think it is fair to say that American forces will be in control of Kirkuk," Fleischer told reporters.

Gul also said the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), another Kurdish faction that runs part of northern Iraq, claimed it could offer cooperation to Turkey to remove PUK fighters from Kirkuk.

But in a sign of solidarity between the two groups, vehicles laden with Kurdish fighters were driving through Kirkuk’s streets, flying the flags of the KDP and the PUK: yellow for the KDP and green for the PUK.

Speaking to the Turkish Daily News, KDP leader Mesoud Barzani said there was a misunderstanding and the cooperation he offered consisted of telling the PUK that entry into Kirkuk would not be a wise thing to do at the moment.

Reports raise tension
Gul’s phone conversation with Powell came after high tensions in the Turkish military headquarters over reports of the Kurdish advance, backed by U.S. special forces, to Kirkuk.

Military officials highlighted in contacts with U.S. officials and representatives of two Kurdish groups that de facto control northern Iraq that Turkey’s "red lines" were still in effect. The Turkish army would directly send troops to northern Iraq if Kurds declare an administration over the city, or if the Turkoman population based in the region are attacked by Kurdish fighters or in the event of any attempt to change the "demographic structure of Kirkuk," a reference to any massive Kurdish inflow into the city.

Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said earlier in the day that Turkey was in touch with the United States and was conveying its worries to Washington, which leads the operation in Iraq, over the Kurdish advance to Kirkuk.

Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul also looked comfortable when he said "Turkey’s red lines have been made clear to the United States," and that he believed that the United States would not breach its past assurances.

Following intense talks with the United States, which also involved Secretary of State Colin Powell, Turkey has recently suspended plans to send troops into northern Iraq to stop Kurds from taking Kirkuk or Iraq’s third largest city, Mosul, also home to large oil fields.

But tens of thousands of Turkish troops remain massed along the border and Turkey has reserved the right to go in to thwart any Kurdish moves towards statehood.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said in Washington that Turkey has not moved any additional troops across borders and said this was a result of a successful diplomacy conducted between Turkey and the United States.

Fleischer also said Kurds were also understanding Washington’s message that "Iraq’s territorial integrity must be protected."

The Kurds and the United States have said any Kurdish independence bid in northern Iraq is out of the question, but Turkey has deep doubts.

Washington’s offer of $1 billion in grants to Turkey, extendible into $8.5 billion in credit guarantees, could be jeopardized if Turkey sends its troops in.

The Kurds have vowed to oppose any Turkish incursion and Washington wants to prevent a "war within a war" breaking out as it senses the Iraqi government is toppling.

In March, Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. special envoy to Iraqi opposition, signed a document with Turkish officials stipulating that the United States would deem the capture of Kirkuk and Mosul by Kurds or any move to boost the Kurdish population in the two cities as a "hostile act."

In a late development, Turkey ordered its Second Army on high alert and gave orders to stand by in case the United States fails to push the peshmarga forces out of Kirkuk.