Turkish parliament approves sending soldiers to Iraq

Considering ruling AKP has 367 deputies, the total number of deputies for shows that only a few AKP deputies voted against the party line.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer can still veto the proposal.

Meanwhile Iraqi Interim Governing Council has rejected a proposal to allow Turkish troops in Iraq. Speaking to AFP, Provisional Council member Mahmood Ali Osman said today that the council had unanomously rejected Turkish troops coming to Iraq to serve as peacekeepers.

On the other hand, one of the AKP deputy leader said today that there was no such a voting that opposing Turkish troops in Iraq, but there were a couple of people who rejected Turkish troops in the region and Iraqi Governing Council had no such as decision.

Government proposal that allows the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq stresses the importance of ridding Iraq from PKK-KADEK terrorists and other militants and the control of the Turkish force being under Turkish commanders. Certain details of the proposal, such as how many troops are needed and where and how long will they serve, will be found out after discussions between US officials and Turkish Foreign Ministry and Office of Chief of General Staff.

PROPOSAL TO BE SENT
Government spokesman and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said today government had decided to ask for Parliament’s approval to send troops to Iraq to serve as peacekeepers, adding that the government proposal concerning the troop issue would be sent to Parliament today.

Speaking after today’s crucial cabinet meeting, Cicek said that the duration of the proposal would be one year, adding that he hoped Parliament would decide to debate the proposal as early as tomorrow.

He said government had no doubts that it would be rejected by Parliament, noting that they would not have sent it in the first place.

He said the details such as where the troops would be deployed or hpw many Turkish troops would be needed, would be resolved after discussions between Turkish Foreign Ministry and Office of Chief of General Staff and their US counterparts.

He said the number of Turkish troops would be as few as possible, adding that while UN remained the most suitable authority in governing and policing Iraq, it had failed to provide a resolution that serves everyones interests.

ONE YEAR DURATION
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary group deputy leader Salih Kapusuz said today that if government presented its proposal to send Turkish troops to Iraq late today or early tomorrow, Parliament would debate the issue tomorrow.

Kapusuz said that AKP parliamentary group deputy leaders would be meeting today at 4 p.m. to discuss the preparations for a posible "troop" discussion tomorrow and on whether AKP group meeting tomorrow would be closed to public or not. There would not be a group decision taken ahead of a parliamentary vote at tomorrow’s AKP parliamentary group meeting, because there were not many AKP deputies, who rejected sending troops.

He said the troop decision was in Turkey’s interest, adding that this was the reason he did not expect a backlash from AKP deputies.

CABINET MEETS TO DISCUSS SENDING TROOPS TO IRAQ
Turkish Cabinet meeting begun at 11.40 a.m. today. The meeting will focus on the government proposal to send troops to Iraq to serve as peacekeepers. The government is expected to ask for the authority to send the troops with settling the details afterwards.

Prime Minister and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that final decision concerning sending troops would be made either at today’s Cabinet meeting, or at tomorrow’s AKP parliamentary group meeting. The area of duty and the date of departure of Turkish soldiers is expected to be decided in today’s meeting.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said today that government proposal to send Turkish troops to Iraq would include no specific details, such as date of departure and area of operations, adding that all these would be determined by Foreign Ministry and Military experts.

Speaking in Kayseri, he said Turkey starting its membership negotiations with European Union at the end of 2004 was very likely, noting that serious implementation of laws and reforms passed was very important to realize this objective.

He also said that Turkey’s relations with United States was very good, adding that considerable distance had been taken concerning cooperation in combating terrorism.