Turkish Daily News - Dec 5, 2001 'We don't want an American operation concerning Iraq,' President Sezer says. 'But, I don't know what Mr. Powell will say.'
Powell in Ankara to seek firm support in expanded anti-terror campaign ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell came to Ankara yesterday evening to rally support for the U.S.-led counter-terrorism alliance after the campaign in Afghanistan. Hours before Powell's visit, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit urged prompt U.S. intervention to prevent a war in the Middle East, following Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets. The United States is pressuring Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to crackdown on Palestinian terrorist groups. But Ecevit described the latest Israeli strikes following suicide bombings this weekend as "unjust actions against the Palestinian Authority's territory." Turkey, the first Muslim country to commit combat troops to Afghanistan, opposes spreading the U.S.-led campaign to Iraq. "We don't want an American operation concerning Iraq," President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Tuesday. "But, I don't know what Mr. Powell will say." Last week, Turkey appeared to be relaxing its opposition, when Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said that "new conditions could bring new evaluations." U.S., officials have accused Iraq of developing a germ warfare program, and President George W. Bush suggested last Monday that once the Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network is routed out in Afghanistan, he may shift the campaign to Iraq. Turkey served as a launching pad for attacks against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War and its support is seen as key for any military action against Iraq. Some 50 U.S. warplanes monitoring a "no-fly" zone over northern Iraq are based in southern Turkey. Ankara fears that if Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is overthrown, Iraqi Kurds who control a de facto autonomous zone in northern Iraq would take advantage of a power vacuum to establish a Kurdish state, which may boost the aspirations of autonomy-seeking Turkey`s Kurdish terrorist (PKK). A war could also deepen a massive economic crisis in Turkey. Powell has said he would try to speed efforts for a settlement to the 27-year-old division of Cyprus, which has marred relations between Turkey and Greece and weakened NATO's southeastern wing. On Tuesday, the leaders of Greek and Turkish Cypriots held direct talks for the first time in more than four years and decided to continue them in January. Also on the agenda in Ankara are discussions for the formation of a new European Union defense force. Turkey announced Sunday, after months of negotiations, that it would agree to the force's use of NATO's military facilities. Washington prefers that the new EU force use NATO resources rather than create a separate military unit. Reports said Ankara gave the green light after accepting assurances that non-EU member Turkey would be consulted on a case-by-case basis for operations in its sphere of interest such as Iraq, the Caucasus or the Balkans, and that the force would not interfere in Turkey's territorial conflicts with EU-member Greece over Cyprus and Aegean sea and air space rights. Ankara - Turkish Daily News with wire dispatches
