-Caveat Lector- Go To Original http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/011403C.turk.stave.htm Turkish Prime Minister Calls for Region to Stave Off US-Led War on Iraq Agence France-Presse
Monday 13 January 2003 -- 7:02 am.eu Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul called for Muslim and Arab countries to work together to avert a US-led war in Iraq that he feared would have disastrous repercussions for the Middle East. "We must undertake steps and seize this final chance to avoid a war in which the Iraqi people and all the people of the region will pay the price," Gul said at a press conference in Tehran. Grilled about his approving US military inspectors to survey air bases and ports in Turkey that could be used in case of such war, Gull acknowledged his country's difficult position as a top US military ally in the region. "Each country must prepare for all scenarios and be ready for any eventuality," he said, while alluding to Turkey's reluctance to let US troops pass through its territory to enter Iraq. Stressing Turkey and Iran's wish to find a peaceful solution to the crisis over Baghdad's alleged secret weapons of mass destruction, Gul said: "If there is a military attack on Iraq, all the countries in the region will suffer." Gul did not comment on whether his regional tour -- which also took him to Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria -- could lead to the sending of an envoy to Baghdad to seek a last minute breakthrough with Saddam Hussein. "All the countries of the region must coordinate their actions to prevent a war, but the principal effort must be made by Iraq," Gul said. As the prime minister made the rounds in Iran, a Turkish state minister, Kursat Tuzmen, visited Baghdad with a message from Gul for Saddam who, in turn, handed over messages to be delivered to Ankara. In Tehran, Gul held talks with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and Foreign Minister Kamal Karazi. IRNA quoted Aref as saying, "The Islamic Republic of Iran is totally opposed to an attack on Iraq. The Iraqi question must be resolved by peaceful means." Aref called on Muslim and Arab countries to work together to find a peaceful solution to the problem posed by Washington's determination to rid Iraq of its alleged weapons of mass destruction. "Experience shows that we cannot trust the United States. If it leads an attack on Iraq, there is no doubt that the turn of other countries in the region will also come," he said. Khatami, meanwhile, was also quoted by IRNA reiterating Iran's staunch opposition to a war on Iraq. Both Turkey and Iran are alarmed by the prospect of a US-led offensive, notably because it might encourage separatism among their own Kurdish minorities by bringing about the creation of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. Iran, which has been lumped by Washington on an "axis of evil" with Iraq and North Korea, is also worried at the prospect of an enlarged and permanent US military presence in the region. In Riyadh on Saturday Gul warned that little time was left to find a peaceful settlement to the Iraqi crisis but said states in the region were formulating an anti-war initiative. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said earlier Sunday that the Turks had proposed sending an envoy to see Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "We told them that we are in agreement, on condition that it has America's blessing, as we don't want problems," he told journalists in southern Egypt. Mubarak, who is also to visit Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, did not say if he was referring to Turkish state minister Kursat Tuzmen, who arrived in Baghdad Friday at the head of a delegation of about 400 businessmen saying he was carrying "Turkish proposals concerning the current situation" to Saddam. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is also to visit Tehran on Wednesday for talks on the standoff between Iraq and the United States, a foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday. Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed al-Fahd al- Sabah arrived here Saturday. An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said a projected visit to Iran by Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri was still being debated. Iran and Iraq fought a bloody and costly war from 1980 to 1988, and Tehran is seeking reparations and an apology from Baghdad, as well as the release of prisoners it says are still being held and the acceptance of a 1975 accord on their common border. (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. 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