Turkey paves the way for U.S. invasion force

By STEPHAN FARIS
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Friday, February 7th, 2003

ISTANBUL - Turkey signaled its willingness yesterday to allow the U.S. to use its territory for a northern invasion of Iraq.

Turkey's parliament voted to allow American engineers to begin renovating military bases and ports, a first step toward opening the way for a flood of U.S. combat troops.

A vote on allowing the troops to enter the country was put off until after next week's Muslim holiday.

In the meantime, the Turkish government will be negotiating an aid package with Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs John Taylor, who arrived in Ankara yesterday.

That package is expected to be at least $4 billion and could go as high as $14 billion to bolster Turkey's shaky economy, officials have said.

"We have not made a commitment to enter a war," said Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul. "We still hold out hopes for peace."

Turkey has been taking small steps toward supporting its NATO ally in a war with Iraq, which is an unpopular move among Turks.

Turkey's reluctance is partly fueled by fears that a war will trigger a flood of refugees that would further strain its economy.

A war might be bad for the country, says Ilter Turkmen, a former Turkish foreign minister, but it will be worse if Turkey sits it out.

"It's in the interest of Turkey to support the U.S. on this," Turkmen said. "Whether the war is a good policy on the part of the U.S., that's another matter."

Participation would give Turkey greater say in postwar northern Iraq, where it fears Kurds could move toward independence, reigniting Turkey's war against its own Kurdish separatists.

Noting that President Bush said last week that a decision on war would be taken in "weeks, not months," a Western diplomat said that Turkey would have little time to allow troops when parliament reconvenes on Feb. 17.

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