Turkish Army: If We Wait, It Will Be A Mistake

The government and the General Staff agreed in principle on the issue of sending troops to Iraq. In the “Iraq Summit,” which will take place in Cankaya Kiosk, they will try to persuade the President, who insists that such a move should have international legitimacy, and hence, a UN resolution is necessary. The government and the General Staff will stress the importance of taking “a state decision in the summit of the state.”

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok, and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will attend the summit meeting that will take place under President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Second Chief of General Staff Yasar Buyukanit, in a *censored*tail party on Sunday said, “If you await impossible decisions, this will be a mistake. If there are fire and instability in our neighbor, we cannot close our eyes to that,” implying that it is not right to await a UN decision. General Ozkok is expected to give a similar message in the summit. Ozkok will also tell Sezer that there is risk in Iraq naturally.

Erdogan will say, “It is not a right attitude for Turkey to remain out of the equation of Iraq,” while Gul will stress his impression that, the U.S. administration is expecting troops from Turkey.

If the summit results in the decision to send troops to Iraq, Parliament will most probably be called on to gather at the end of August or beginning of September. The issues regarding the number of troops to be sent, their location and duty will be clarified with the response to the questionnaire sent by the General Staff to Pentagon.