Turkey Wants
U.S. to Pay for Damages Arising from Iraq Strike
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Turkey
would benefit from the removal of President Saddam Hussein:
Wolfowitz
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ANKARA,
July 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. should compensate
for any damages Turkey incurs in a possible military operation against
its neighbor Iraq, according to Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit
Saturday, July 20, 2002.
"The
United State is our closest ally. And we are situated in a very
critical location," Ecevit said in an interview with the Turkish
daily Sabah, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"Whether
there is an operation in Iraq or not, whether Turkey participates in
such an operation or not, we believe the U.S. should meet as much as
possible the sacrifices that we would endure," Ecevit said.
Pressure
over EU-demanded reforms and the Cyprus conflict, coupled by U.S.
plans to attack neighboring Iraq, put additional burdens on the
embattled Turkish government amid political and economic hardship.
Turkey
urged the U.S. to keep up intense consultations on possible military
operations on Iraq, which it fears could spell dire consequences for
its crisis-hit economy and regional political balances, news agencies
reported.
The
appeal came from Ecevit, who reiterated Turkey's reservations over
punitive strikes against Baghdad in personal talks with visiting U.S.
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on Wednesday.
"We
told them that we expect them to act in a very close dialogue with us
if they decide to launch an operation," Ecevit told STV
television late Wednesday.
"Iraq
is our neighbor. We have good relations with them. We told them (the
U.S.) that we expect them to show the necessary caution so as we do
not suffer any damage," Ecevit said.
For
his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel also underlined on
Thursday, July 18, that Ankara would face inevitable damages if
Washington made good on its threat of military strikes.
"The
United States also knows that Turkey will be the NATO ally to suffer
the most damage in such a turmoil and this should be taken into
account," he told the NTV news channel.
Ecevit
said he had tried to persuade Wolfowitz that the Iraqi issue could be
resolved without a military operation.
He added, however, that "the American administration is not
hiding that it is determined on a military intervention against
Iraq."
Given
Washington's determination to allegedly get rid of Saddam Hussein,
Ankara's position now focuses on demanding economic and political
guarantees from the U.S. rather than opposing an operation, observers
say, AFP reported.
Wolfowitz
met Turkish leaders in Ankara this week, and his talks were widely
interpreted to have resulted in a softening in Ankara's stiff
opposition to a military move against Iraq.
The
U.S. plans for Iraq are a source of concern for Turkey, the only
mainly Muslim member of NATO.
Turkey
is also home to an American base, from where U.S. jets launched
strikes against Baghdad in the 1991 Gulf War and which they still use
to enforce a no-fly zone (not backed by any UN resolutions) over
mainly-Kurdish northern Iraq.
Ankara
will almost certainly agree to open its bases to the U.S. if it
decides to strike Iraq, observers say.
But
Turkey is wary that turmoil in Iraq will further damage its ailing
economy, just as the Gulf War did.
Ankara
estimates it lost some 40 billion dollars as a result of sanctions on
Iraq after the Gulf War.
The
country is also concerned that an operation against Baghdad may help
the Kurds in northern Iraq to set up an independent state, which could
have a knock-on effect on its own Kurds at a time when a bloody
Kurdish rebellion in the southeast of the country subsided.
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