ANKARA,
April 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell said Wednesday, April 2, that Turkey will allow the
U.S. to use its territory to re-supply forces in northern Iraq,
asserting there was no need for Turkish forces to cross into its
neighboring country.
"We
have solved all the outstanding issues with respect to providing
supplies through Turkey to those units" in northern Iraq, Powell
said at a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul.
He
argued that Turkey will play an important role in the post-war Iraq,
expressing hope that within few days all pending issues would be
tackled.
Powell
issues related to Turkey's support for American troops in northern
Iraq were discussed, including refueling assistance and supplying
humanitarian aid to Iraq.
He
added talks with Turkish officials touched on means to maintain
stability in northern Iraq, apparently addressing Ankara's fears that
Kurds might declare an independent state, inspiring Turkish Kurds who
have fought for autonomy in the southeast for 15 years to follow suit.
On
his part, Gul said his country will continue cooperation with the U.S.
in the war on neighboring Iraq.
"The
coalition over the Iraq war will continue," he said, adding that
his country is in a very sensitive situation given the public
opposition to the U.S.-led invasion.
"Fruitful"
Powell's
visit seems an apparent attempt to patch rift between the two NATO
member states over the Iraq crisis.
Powell
described talks with Turkish leaders as "fruitful" while Gul
said that Ankara's relations with Washington is based on strong
foundations.
The
NTV news channel reported earlier in the day that Powell asked Gul for
logistical support for U.S. military operations in northern Iraq,
including the provision of fuel and permission to conduct
search-and-rescue missions from Turkish soil, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
reported.
He
requested that tanker trucks be allowed to cross from Turkey into
northern Iraq to supply fuel for U.S. forces fighting there alongside
Kurdish militia and for unrestricted passage for humanitarian aid to
northern Iraq.
Among
the other requests is that wounded soldiers be allowed to be
transported to Turkey, reportedly to the Incirlik base in the south of
the country that has a fully-equipped military hospital, partly built
underground, NTV reported.
Powell
also met with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and was to meet army chief Hilmi Ozkok.
In
remarks to reporters on his way to Ankara, Powell said he was coming
with requests having to do with just "sustaining the operations
in northern Iraq."
"We
are not looking at the kind of requests that we were looking at a
month or so ago... these are requests having to do with just
sustaining the operations in northern Iraq, and it should not be
difficult for the Turks to accommodate," he said.
It
is the first foreign trip by a senior member of the Bush
administration since the Iraq aggression against Iraq started on March
20.
Ankara's
refusal to allow U.S. ground forces to enter Iraq via Turkey caused a
split between the two NATO allies.
Powell
told reporters he would not ask for "hundreds of thousands of
troops" to be deployed in Turkey, but said he was expecting a
"spirit of co-operation" and a "rapid turnaround of
requests".
Washington
had asked Turkey to permit it to move tens of thousands of troops,
including the crack 4th Infantry Division, through its territory to
open a northern front in the war, for which Ankara would have received
a hefty U.S. aid package.
But
the Turkish parliament rejected the deployment by three votes on March
1, despite the presence of dozens of ships carrying U.S. equipment
waiting offshore to unload.
The
U.S. has since repeatedly warned Turkey against sending troops into
northern Iraq. But Ankara has said it cannot entrust security in
northern Iraq to the U.S.
Powell
Greeted With Demonstrations
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A Turkish demonstrator chants anti-U.S. slogans
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Powell
was greeted in his visit by anti-war demonstrators armed with eggs and
red paint.
Dozens
of riot police were deployed around government buildings where Powell
is meeting Turkish officials and security was also beefed up around
the U.S. embassy.
Police
detained about 50 protestors outside the foreign ministry minutes
before Powell arrived after the demonstrators, kept at a distance by a
police barricade, began hurling eggs at the security forces.
Several
protesters, who were wrestled to the ground by police officers,
shouted "Powell is murderer, get out of our country" and
"We will not be American soldiers."
Some
500 people, mostly from left-wing parties, waited for Powell outside
the office of the prime minister chanting "Yankee go home,"
"Powell, game over, go home fast," and "The
imperialists will be defeated."
Four
left-wing activists carrying bottles with red paint managed to break
through the security cordon, but were immediately detained.
The
demonstrations came as Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri appealed to
Ankara a day before to remember centuries of history and help Iraq
boot out U.S. and British forces from its territory.
"The
United States is trying to drag the neighborly, friendly and Muslim
Turkish people into a war that will lead to only Allah knows
where," Sabri said in an interview in Baghdad with Turkey's
state-run Anatolia news agency.
"Turkish
people, who chose freedom and friendship, let us join hands and expel
the attackers from our region," he said.
"Opposed"
On
Thursday, April 3, Powell is due to go on to Brussels, where he is
expected to discuss the U.S.-led aggression against Iraq with foreign
ministers of the European Union and NATO member states.
But
the surprise trip, that has forced the cancellation of his planned
visit to the breakaway Turkish-held north of Cyprus, has already come
under fire.
EU
officials have warned the U.S. not to expect quick decisions regarding
a post-war Iraq from his visit.
"We
are not opposed to these meetings. But it would have been good if
Powell had taken such initiatives before the war," said a
spokesman for the Greek Government, which holds the EU presidency.
The
EU has told Powell it wants the U.N. to take "centre stage"
in the rebuilding of post-war Iraq, the BBC News Online reported.
The
U.N. has "a unique capacity" and experience to rebuild
nations ravaged by war, said EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin.
Some
European governments may also want to talk as much about the course of
the war.
In
particular, they may want to discuss whether a protracted conflict
will so poison the atmosphere in Iraq and the region that
reconstruction will be hugely difficult.
The
Iraq war has divided the EU, with Germany and France remaining
bitterly opposed to the war.
The
Bush administration is hoping this new round of diplomacy will heal
some of the discord created in the run-up to the conflict.
A
U.S. State Department official described Powell's visit as a
"kiss and make up trip".
Powell
is also expected to meet Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who
also opposes the U.S.-led aggression against Iraq.
