TURKEY: PARLIAMENT AGREES TO HELP THE U.S. IN A WAR AGAINST IRAQ AND PUT THEIR FORCES UNDER THE CONTROL OF A UNITED STATES. LED COALITION.

Record ID: 645812

  • Title: TURKEY: PARLIAMENT AGREES TO HELP THE U.S. IN A WAR AGAINST IRAQ AND PUT THEIR FORCES UNDER THE CONTROL OF A UNITED STATES. LED COALITION.
  • Date: 18th March 2003
  • Summary: (W6) ANKARA, TURKEY (MARCH 18, 2003) (REUTERS) MV: ARRIVAL OF IRAQI OPPOSITION LEADER NACIRVAN BARZANI MEMBER OF KDP (KURDISH DEMOCRATIC PARTY) VARIOUS: PROTESTORS CHANTING. (2 SHOTS) VARIOUS: ARRIVAL OF CIRAQI OPPOSITION LEADER CELAL TALABANI TO THE MEETING AND BEING JOSTLED BY PROTESTORS. VARIOUS: OF THE PROTEST, PEOPLE CHANTING. VARIOUS: ARRIVAL OF US PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY ZALMAY HALILZAD. WS/INTERIOR: OF THE MEETING. MV: TURKISH DELEGATION AT THE MEETING. MV: U.S. DELEGATION. WS/PAN: CELAL TALABANIS PUK DELEGATION. PAN/WS: NECIRVAN BARZANIS KDP DELEGATION. MV: PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY ZALMAY HALILZAD WITH PRESS. CU: CAMERA OPERATOR. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) US PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY ZALMAY HALILZAD SAYING: "The parties also agreed, the Iraqi parties agreed to discourage the movement of civilian populations or militias into towns and cities such as Kirkuk and Mosul." MV: OF THE JOURNALISTS.
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ANKARA, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACC0DE677S6UUVYLNIP2LIKH2A
  • Story Text: As Turkey's government worked on Tuesday to cobble together a deal to help the United States in a war against Iraq, Iraqi opposition groups meeting in Ankara have agreed to put their forces under the control of a U.S.-led coalition command in the event of a war.
    Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted on Tuesday (March 18) that his government was prepared to assist the United States in its military operations against Iraq.
    "Despite the differences (between the US and Turkey in perception) on the Iraqi crisis, the fundamental strategic and political reality is the alliance between Turkey and the United States. Our government considers it important to act in a manner appropriate to the importance and function of our alliance with the United States, " Erdogan told memebers of the parliament in his Tuesday address.
    With U.S. troops making final preparations to invade Iraq, a top-level Monday night meeting in Ankara revived flagging hopes in Washington of using Turkey as a launch pad to open a "northern front" that could accelerate a victory over Baghdad.
    But diplomatic sources said parliament might only be asked to open air corridors and allow transit of special forces rather than the passage of 62,000 troops it rejected on March
    Government sources also said that all three options for a new motion envisaged sending Turkish troops into Northern Iraq -- something Washington has specifically asked Turkey not to do.
    Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was expected to discuss the motion at an emergency cabinet meeting on Tuesday. A vote on a deal was expected on Wednesday.
    Government sources said the cabinet would consider three options. The first would be limited to overflight rights, frustrating U.S. hopes of setting up a full "northern front".
    The second proposal would also allow for the use of air bases and the third option would include ground forces.
    All motions envisage sending Turkish troops into northern Iraq to prevent the creation of a Kurdish state and to protect the Turks' ethnic cousins in the Turkmen minority.
    U.S. ships loaded with armour and equipment for the 4th Infantry Division, a high-tech body of 30,000 soldiers, are waiting off Turkish Mediterranean ports for orders to disembark or divert elsewhere.
    Even a limited deployment would force Iraqi troops to fight on two fronts and ease the burden of a main invasion force entering Iraq from Kuwait. It might also help U.S.
    troops to seize control of oil fields in northern Iraq that Washington fears Baghdad might sabotage in any retreat.
    Meanwhile, Iraqi opposition groups meeting Turkish and U.S. officials in Ankara have agreed to put their forces under the control of a U.S.-led coalition command in the event of a war .
    The decision mainly concerns tens of thousands of Iraqi Kurdish "peshmerga" fighters in the autonomous north of the country, whose representatives attended the meeting in the Turkish capital.
    The meeting also discussed a mechanism to avoid clashes between Iraqi Kurdish forces and Turkish troops, whose likely role in any war has yet to be decided by Turkey's government as well as potential refugee problems.
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