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Turkey may vote again on troops
ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) -- Turkey's government said Tuesday it was considering a second try at winning approval for U.S. troops to be based there, but hinted it first wanted Washington's promise to rein in Kurds in northern Iraq. Turkey threw Pentagon war plans into turmoil Saturday when its parliament rejected a U.S. request to allow 62,000 troops to use Turkey as a launch pad to open a "northern front" in any attack on Iraq. Turkish financial markets, which had sunk on that news, rose slightly Tuesday on hopes the Justice and Development Party (AKP) will drive approval through at a second attempt. Asked whether the government would present a new draft on U.S. troops to parliament, Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said: "We are evaluating it both within the party and the government." Worries a war could lead to a Kurdish state breaking away from Baghdad almost certainly contributed to the rejection. After the vote, AKP leader Tayyip Erdogan talked of "historic reflexes" triggered by U.S. war plans, an issue he returned to Tuesday. "The United States must take a political stance against events in the region that may develop of themselves and establishments that would insult Turkey," he said. "No one should provoke Turkey's sensitivities." Ankara has watched the increasing independence of Iraqi Kurds -- outside Baghdad's control since the end of the 1991 Gulf War -- with growing apprehension, fearing it could rekindle the flames of its own Kurdish separatist movement. No rush for second voteAnalysts see little chance of a fresh vote before a Sunday by-election, which Erdogan, previously banned from parliament on charges of "Islamist sedition," hopes will help him take over the post of prime minister from party ally Abdullah Gul. "I expect a resolution to come," one AKP lawmaker told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There could be reductions in the number of troops or aircraft. "This government will propose the resolution but ... the new government Tayyip Erdogan will form will put it to a vote." Yakis gave no timetable and suggested much depended on the United States. "There are some answers we are expecting (from the United States). Those answers have yet to arrive," he said. Referring to an aid package of up to $30 billion Washington had been prepared to offer Turkey, U.S. Ambassador Robert Pearson said Tuesday there would be no aid without approval of the troops but added he was hopeful of a second decision. "We have hopes, as we always have had, of working closely with Turkey," he said after meeting Gul. Pearson's words were echoed by those of White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, who said U.S. aid was predicated on Turkish cooperation. "We continue to talk to Turkey. Turkey is a NATO ally. The particular package that we've been talking to them about was predicated on assistance and cooperation in any plan for the use of force against Iraq. Obviously, it is predicated on that assistance and cooperation. We'll continue to talk to them as we move forward," Fleischer said. Fleischer brushed aside suggestions that Washington would increase the size of the package, saying: "As I indicated, the particular package that we have talked to them about was predicated on their assistance and cooperation." The AKP may prefer to present the motion after the U.N. Security Council votes on a second resolution sanctioning possible military action against Baghdad. Washington has signaled it will push the resolution to a vote next week. The United States, aware that resolution might not pass, may not be prepared to wait that long and could abandon Turkey and ship troops and equipment instead to the Gulf where an invasion force is massing. Yakis made clear where Turkey's sensitive spot is by attacking Iraqi Kurds who burned Turkish flags during demonstrations in northern Iraq on Monday against Turkish plans for military intervention in the Kurdish-administered area. Scenes of the flag-burning, sure to annoy nationalist Turkey, were broadcast widely on television in Turkey. "This is absolutely a provocation," Yakis said in Ankara. Turkey has fought a costly internal conflict since 1984 against armed rebels from its own estimated 12 million Kurds who seek autonomy for the mainly-Kurdish southeast. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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