|
  |
|
 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. in Iraq talks with Kurds
ANKARA, Turkey (CNN) -- While Turkey considers offering its bases to U.S. troops for a possible military strike on Iraq, a U.S. presidential envoy has been discussing a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq with Kurdish leaders in the Turkish capital. Parliament was due to vote Thursday to allow U.S. technicians and troops to upgrade Turkish bases for use in any military action. It will decide whether to allow U.S. troops to use its bases to attack Iraq next week. Iraq's ambassador to Turkey said that if Ankara opened its military bases to the United States for a war on Iraq it would be committing a "great crime" and effectively joining the war. "Countries that participate in that way should know that they commit a great crime and will see that they made a strategic mistake, because Iraq has never shown them enmity or done them damage," Ambassador Talib Abid Salih El Dileyimi told reporters. Meanwhile on Thursday, President Bush's envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, met with Jalal Talabani, head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Nechirvan Barzami, the de facto prime minister of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. The U.S. is seeking support from Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq in the event of a possible war with Iraq. Talabani told CNN's Jane Arraf he believed U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was "totally correct" in his presentation to the U.N. Security Council Wednesday of evidence that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction. The Kurdish leader called on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to step down from power. "He's finished, he must leave, peacefully better than through war," Talabani said. "He ruined the country since 1979. "The best way is to leave this post and to permit a kind of democratization in Iraq and to give the mass destruction arms to the United Nations and then there will be a peaceful solution for Iraq crisis." Later Thursday, Turkey's parliament is expected to approve a measure that would send Turkish troops to Iraq, possibly laying the groundwork for its participation in a military campaign against neighboring Iraq. Turkish lawmakers are also scheduled to vote Thursday on a resolution that would allow the U.S. to modernize Turkish air bases and ports. Turkey, the only Muslim nation in NATO, has not agreed to allow U.S. troops to use its bases and ports for a possible military campaign against Iraq. Parliament is scheduled to vote on that key issue next week. Turkey's Prime Minister Abdullah Gul Thursday emphasized in a televised address that the legislative action did not mean Turkey would enter a war against Iraq. "Turkey will not enter a war. The Turkish Armed Forces will not enter combat," Gul told reporters in Ankara. Turkey has been viewed by the U.S. as a key ally if it launches military strikes against Iraq, and it has sought the use of Turkish air space, air bases and other airports and seaports in the event of war. Turkey's government is juggling the need to assist the U.S., its longtime ally, and protect itself from the economic and social problems that would result from the war. Also, polls in Turkey show widespread opposition to a war. Turkey also fears a war would arouse tensions with Kurds in both Turkey and Iraq, and create serious economic and social problems. The United States has been pressing Turkey to allow 40,000 troops in the country. Currently, U.S. forces patrolling the Iraq northern no-fly zone use Turkey as a hub to operate. The U.S. military already has thousands of troops in Turkey. Washington had earlier asked to be allowed to station 80,000 troops in Turkey, but downgraded that figure earlier this month. Turkey has balked at providing any assurances to the Bush administration that its bases could be used in any such military campaign. Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said, "The countries of this region do not wish to live through yet another war and all its devastating consequences. War should not become an option to resolve this crisis." -- CNN Correspondent Jane Arraf contributed to this report
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
