US Formula to Determine Turkey’s Role in Iraq

In a statement appearing in the Washington Post July 24 edition, Gul warned that if Turkey was not given a specific and significant role in the reconstruction of Iraq, Parliament would reject the request for troop deployment. In the article "Turkish Official Ties Iraq Aid to Economic Pledges", the newspaper claimed Gul said that the Turkish government wanted assurances of economic and business contracts in Iraq, as well as a "common understanding" with the Bush administration on Iraq’s future. Gul was quoted as saying, "If it is seems that we are just sending a police force there, then the vote will be different," and, "Turkey must be part of the big picture." Gul pointed out that a broader role for the United Nations (UN) in the reconstruction of Iraq would ease passage of the troop request in the Turkish Parliament, but said it was not a necessity.

The newspaper evaluated Gul’s statement as "Turkey made tough demands on the matter of sending troops to Iraq".

On the second day of his Washington visit, Gul first met with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Then he was received by US Vice President Dick Cheney in the White House before going to the Pentagon to meet US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The US-appointed civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, also attended the Pentagon meeting.

Foreign News Services / Istanbul / TURKEY