"We believe there should be a Security Council resolution other than Resolution 1441," Sezer said

ANKARA, February 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Turkey will only open its territory to U.S. combat troops if a new U.N. resolution is passed to authorize war on Iraq, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said Tuesday, February 18.

At the same time, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development party, stressed that Ankara’s backing for a U.S.-led war was subject to change if Washington did not meet Turkish demands for billions of dollars in compensation to cover the war impact on the fragile Turkish economy.

Sezer said, however, Ankara's decision to delay the arrival of U.S. troops would not be a sore spot between the two NATO allies, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We have been saying from the very beginning that the presence of foreign soldiers in Turkey could be (allowed) in circumstances considered legitimate by international law," said Sezer, quoted by the Anatolia news agency.

"In order to have a situation deemed legitimate under international law, we believe there should be a Security Council resolution other than Resolution 1441," he said.

Sezer can influence major decisions through his chairmanship of the National Security Council, the country's top advisory body which makes recommendations to the government.

Parliament had been expected to vote on Tuesday on whether to allow the deployment of U.S. combat soldiers on Turkish soil, but the government put the vote on hold as talks with Washington over economic, military and political cooperation hit snags.

Turkey wants guarantees from the United States that it will make good any economic losses resulting from a war in neighboring Iraq.

Asked whether Ankara's reluctance to swiftly answer U.S. demands of support against Iraq could lead to tension between with Washington, he said: "There is no such possibility."

Erdogan said an earlier vote by parliament giving U.S. forces the green light to begin upgrading their facilities here did not mean Turkish support for war.

"Our American friends should not interpret this decision (to mean) that Turkey has embarked on an irreversible road," he said. Our counterparts should fulfill our demands."

Some press reports have said Turkey is asking for as much as 50 billion dollars from Washington.

"If our support is meaningful and necessary to the U.S., then the U.S. should …consider with good will our demands," Erdogan said

"If we are to act together, if our support is meaningful and necessary to the U.S., then the U.S. should take into account our sensitivities and consider with good will our demands," Erdogan said.

"Otherwise the partnership and the friendship will turn into constant sacrifices made by one of the sides," he said. "And this is unacceptable."

The show of reluctance from Ankara comes as Washington faces strong opposition in the European Union and on the U.N. Security Council, notably from France and Germany, over its push for a war on Iraq.

Ankara's anxiety stems from the 1991 Gulf war against Iraq, in which Turkey backed the U.S.-led coalition that forced Iraqi troops out of Kuwait.

Turkey says it lost up to 40 billion dollars in trade after the United Nations slapped embargoes on Baghdad after the war, and accuses Washington of failing to deliver promised compensation.

Press reports here have said Washington has offered around six billion dollars in grants and up to 20 billion dollars in loan guarantees.

U.S. and British warplanes already use air bases in Turkey to patrol a so-called no-fly zone over northern Iraq that has kept the region out of Baghdad's control since the 1991 war.

But Ankara says the no-fly zone has boosted independence aspirations among local Kurds and provided Turkish Kurdish rebels with a safe haven and a springboard for attacks on Turkey.

Washington and Ankara are also at odds over who would command troops Turkey wants to send into northern Iraq to prevent independence moves by Kurds and stop an influx of refugees.