The Guardian March 17, 2003
Turkey to reconsider US troop ban
Northern frontier for war on Iraq may be opened for Americans
By Jonny Dymond in Ankara and Julian Borger in Washington
The Turkish government last night revived US hopes that American forces may be given access to Turkish territory, airspace and airbases, amid predictions that an emergency parliamentary vote may be called in the next few days.
The vote could have an immediate impact on US war plans if it approved overflight rights for war planes launched from two US aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean, military experts said.
But they added that the decision, even if it went Washington's way, had almost certainly come too late to allow US troops to reach Iraq's northern borders before the war starts.
A spokesman for Turkish president Ahmet Necdet Sezer said the vote, which would allow US forces to open a northern front in the looming war with Iraq, was being considered urgently.
"A unanimous decision was reached ... that there is a need to move urgently," said Tacan Ildem. Asked when parliament would submit a new resolution, Mr Ildem said: "Our government will make the necessary evaluation urgently."
The meeting included the prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and top officials as well as the military chief, General Hilmi Ozkok. Two weeks ago, the Turkish parliament narrowly rejected a request for deployment of over 60,000 US troops. Until last night, it had been assumed that a second attempt at a vote would not take place before next week.
Mr Erdogan had said he wanted his new government to win a vote of confidence in parliament before any new motion on the deployment of troops was considered. But following the meeting last night, that timetable is in doubt. The government has faced mounting ressure to reverse parliament's earlier decision.
The US had offered more than £10bn in aid and loans in exchange for use of Turkish soil and air bases. Turkish financial markets slumped after deployment was blocked. Late last week America, alarmed that its access to Turkish air space was in doubt, moved 10 ships and submarines out of the eastern Mediterranean to the Red Sea, from where missiles could be fired at Iraq through Saudi Arabian airspace.
The US has so far kept two of its aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean. The Jordanian government will not allow planes to cross into Jordan from Israel, but even if Turkey continues to deny overflight rights, planes could fly through Egypt and into Jordan, avoiding Israel.
There are also three dozen ships in the Mediterranean carrying equipment for the US 4th Infantry Division and waiting for Turkish approval to unload.
Patrick Garrett, at thinktank, GlobalSecurity.org, said: "It would take a week and a half to get the equipment into position, so the 4th Infantry Division will probably have to be a stabilisation force."
Michael O'Hanlon, a military expert at the Brookings Institution, said the US government was in no mood to delay its plans to wait for Turkey's decisions.
In place of the 4th Infantry Division, it is thought likely the Pentagon would dispatch a lighter airborne force to take control of northern Iraq. One of that force's tasks would be to prevent clashes between Turkish and Kurdish forces along the northern border.
In the past few weeks, Turkey had reached agreement with the US to move its troops into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq alongside American forces. Turkey is concerned that during or after a war, the Kurdish groups which control northern Iraq might create an autonomous state.
Australia, which has sent 2,000 troops, fighter jets and warships to the Gulf, will fight in a war against Iraq if America launches military action, prime minister John Howard said. "This decision was taken at a cabinet meeting following a further telephone discussion between myself and President Bush," he added.
Copyright © 2003, Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
