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10,000 anti-war protesters marched in London Sept. 27.
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There is speculation these days
about the law that has been passed in parliament allowing the
government to send troops to Iraq. Some conjecture that this
law, in fact, was a mere formality and that Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan has no intention of actually deploying troops in
the neighboring country.
There
are also claims that Turkey may use the strong, vocal objections
of the Kurds-led Iraqi groups as an alibi to turn to the
Americans and say, “see we are unwanted in Iraq, so we are not
coming.”
All
these conjectures are wrong. The government and the military are
not at all afraid to send forces to Iraq; on the contrary, they
see that deploying our troops in that neighboring country will
serve the vital interests of Turkey, and they, hence, consider
it essential for Turkish forces to be deployed there in the not
too distant future.
After
the bad experience of the March 1 bill – when the Turkish
parliament denied Washington permission to use Turkish territory
to attack Iraq, the Americans told Ankara to first pass the
October bill and then sit down for serious negotiations on the
details of the proposed Turkish deployment in Iraq. So, simply,
Turkey has not passed this bill to push the Americans to a
corner and say “the law has passed, but because there is so
much opposition to our presence in Iraq, especially by the
Kurds, we have decided to stay away.”
Turkey
is reluctant, but also more than sincere in its desire to send
its forces to Iraq, because we are all aware that the fire in
the neighboring country has to be put out, or else, if it drags
on, it will have the potential of spilling into our country.
Turkey wants to restore stability and order in Iraq. It wants
the Iraqis to know that their Turkish friends will always come
to their help in time of need and will neither be liberators or
occupiers, but just friends who rush to assist them in times of
trouble.
Turkey
has always insisted that the liberation of Iraq shouldn’t lead
the Iraqis to find that Saddam’s tyrannical rule was better
than freedom. Unfortunately, the Iraqi people at present say
that their life under Saddam – a dictator – was better than
their life after being liberated. Accordingly, Turkey is
concerned that the would-be system that is to be established in
Iraq will bring sustainable stability to the country where
Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, as well as Sunni and Shiite Arabs,
are to live in peace and harmony. Turkey does not want
instability and civil war in its backgarden and, thus, wants to
be present when Iraq’s new constitution is shaped.
Turkish
soldiers have had an excellent record of being impartial, caring
and affectionate to the local people wherever they have gone on
a peacekeeping mission. You only have to ask the Serbs who used
to have many misgivings about our troops until they started
serving in former Yugoslavia and won the hearts of everyone.
The
only way Turks will not go into Iraq is if their troops are
asked to serve in places where they cannot have a real impact
and restore order, or if the conditions offered to them are
regarded as unacceptable by Ankara. Thus, in fact, it is up to
the Americans to facilitate the deployment of our troops in
Iraq.
*This
article was originally published in the Turkish
Daily News. Please refer to source for the original version.
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