A rchive Date
[ 21-02-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Turkey ]
|
[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/02/21/29553-ap.html
Turkey's top politician says no party decision over U.S. troop deployment
Fri, February 21, 2003
ISTANBUL (AP) - Turkey's top politician said he would not order his party's legislators in parliament to vote to approve a U.S. troop deployment, news reports said Friday.
"There would be no group decision" on the vote, the news agency Anatolia quoted Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying.
But Erdogan said that if a vote were sent to parliament, he hoped "his friends would act toward the authorization." Erdogan's governing Justice and Development holds a majority in parliament and his move raises the possibility that a draft on approving the U.S. deployment will not get through parliament.
An overwhelming majority of Turks are opposed to a war in Iraq and deputies would have difficulty justifying their decision to back a U.S. deployment to their constituencies.
Erdogan also said Turkey needed a written pledge signed by the highest U.S. authority before it could authorize the deployment of U.S. combat troops.
Opposition leader Deniz Baykal, who says his party will vote against the deployment, said Friday that Erdogan's statement meant the draft would likely be rejected.
Turkish and U.S. officials have been in intense negotiations for weeks on conditions for the deployment of tens of thousands of U.S. troops. Turkey sits on Iraq's northern border, and Washington would want to use it to open a northern front in the event of war.
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said he would make a statement Friday on the U.S. deployment.
A vote in parliament had been expected Tuesday and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday he was expecting an answer from Turkey by the end of the day. A western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was still hopeful that the Turks would answer soon.
One of the main sticking points is an economic aid package to compensate Turkey for any losses incurred in a war, diplomats said. Turkey is reportedly asking for $30 billion US in grants and long-term loans.
In a television interview late Thursday, Erdogan insisted that any agreement had to be a written agreement.
"Whoever is the highest authority in the United States to sign (the agreement), has to sign it," Erdogan was quoted as saying.
The U.S. diplomat said Washington believed that once the substance of the agreement is reached, the form would not be a problem.
When asked about Powell's deadline, Erdogan said deadlines had been set in the past and then changed, Anatolia reported. He ruled out the possibility of the draft being sent to parliament on Friday.
The standoff comes as U.S. ships loaded with tanks gather off the Turkish coast, ready to bring in equipment for the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.
In an interview with daily Yeni Safak, Gul said Washington had asked to base up to 60,000 troops in Turkey, including 20,000 to 25,000 combat troops.
Turkish legislators have already authorized the modernization by the United States of Turkish bases and ports.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
|