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24 February 2003

U.S. Welcomes Turkish Action on Possible Troop Deployments

(State Department calls Turkey "key strategic ally and partner") (350)
State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said the United States
welcomes the decision by the government of Turkey to seek
parliamentary approval for the deployment of U.S. troops in Turkey in
the event of war with Iraq.
Briefing reporters at the State Department in Washington February 24,
Reeker said the United States is aware of the difficulty of Turkey's
decision and is offering an assistance package that addresses Turkey's
concerns.
Following is an excerpt from the transcript of Reeker's briefing
containing his comment about possible U.S. troop deployments in
Turkey:
(begin excerpt)
QUESTION: And anything on the Turkish deal for the war in Iraq between
USA and Turkey?
MR. REEKER: Generally, I think let me just say that we welcome
Turkey's decision, the decision by the Government of Turkey, the
cabinet, today to submit to the parliament of Turkey our request for
troop deployments in the event that a military action against Iraq is
necessary. Details of that, I think, are still being discussed.
As you know, Turkey is a key strategic ally and partner. We share a
very long history of friendship and close cooperation. We very much
respect Turkey's democratic process, and that is what we are seeing
here is a democratic process. And as President Bush has stressed, we
understand that these are very difficult decisions for Turkey, a
frontline state who obviously understands the threats that Iraq's
Saddam Hussein and his regime pose.
So we are working with Turkey and the assistance package that we have
discussed with Turkey is designed to address many of those concerns.
QUESTION: Do you have any consideration there, reaction from the
Kurdish side, which disagrees for the Turkish military presence in the
area?
MR. REEKER: I think I will wait till we have the final decisions made
to discuss the details of it. I think we have been quite clear on what
our goals would be for a future Iraq in terms of territorial integrity
and other issues that come up into that.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)