ANKARA’S GREEN LIGHT TO AMERICAN FORCES
ANKARA 18 Mar. (IPS) Turkey and United States close deal permitting US troops to transit Turkish bases for invasion of North Iraq and opening airspace to US and allied warplanes, informed diplomatic and military sources confirmed Tuesday.
"Turkish troops will not enter Southern (Iraqi) Kurdistan, while Kurdish forces will not set foot in Mosul and Kerkook", the sources added, following a meeting, in Ankara, between representatives from Iraqi Kurdish parties and Turkish officials, supervised by Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad, President George W. Bush’s special envoy for Iraq.
At the tripartite meeting, Iraqi Kurds warned the Turkish side that if they go along with their plan to enter Iraqi Kurdistan when the American attack Baghdad, they would be met by Kurdish peshmergas (fighters) and any clash between the Turkish and Kurdish forces would jeopardise American movements across Iraqi Kurdistan, according to same sources.
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had said that the U.S. was concerned that Turkish military activity in northern Iraq could lead to a possible conflict with the Kurds.
Powell expressed concern about any Turkish military action. "We have made it clear that the situation there (in northern Iraq) is volatile, and it would be better if there were no Turkish forces in as part of any military operation that might take place", Powell told ABC's "This Week."
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Khalilzad's main mission in Ankara was to dissuade Turks from intervening in northern Iraq.
A second meeting is expected to take part on Wednesday with a larger participation. The Supreme Assembly of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI) and Arab Sunni representatives are also expected to join the meeting according to the results of a meeting between Khalilzad and Turkish officials.
Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and Nechirvan Barzani, the Prime Minister of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP), as well as representatives of the ITC in northern Iraq will be attending the talks.
Turkey also fears that the fall of Saddam Hoseyn will lead to the creation of an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey. Turkey has thousands of troops in Kurdish-run northern Iraq and plans to increase the numbers if war breaks out.
Holding out on troops deal
Turkey's parliament has balked at approving a request to station 62,000 American troops on Turkish soil for a possible invasion and sensitive to mass anti-war feeling in Turkey, new Prime Minister Tayyip Rajab Erdogan had said the government would only consider the U.S. troop request after a confidence vote planned for March 23.
But the sources said as President Bush last night gave a 48 hours ultimatum to his Iraqi counterpart to leave Baghdad or he would be attacked, Mr. Erdogan, who is the leader of the Justice and Development Party which controls the Parliament, changed his decision by giving the green light for the American forces to cross Turkey. ENDS US TURKEY IRAQ 18303