ANKARA - Opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said on Tuesday that Turkey's giving up sending soldiers to Iraq was the last example of misgovernment in Turkey.
Recalling that the government explained the importance of Turkey's having soldiers in Iraq for months, Baykal said in his party group meeting hat ''the government used all sorts of arguments to defend its view till the end. The government which explained that it was a necessity to send soldiers to Iraq, now started to explain that it was not necessary. The government made many mistakes in the beginning and it didn't assume its current attitude by seeing its mistake. This decision was taken as foreign elements saw that the mentioned wrong decision was not applicable. The government was saying there was fire in the neighbour, so Turkey had to take action. What happened to the fire, did it extinguish? On the contrary, it grows. They were telling that Turkey had to get its place in the Middle East equation. What happened to the equation? What are they saying when they can't have a place in the equation?''
Baykal stated that Turkey faced a failure in Iraq with this decision, adding that ''the red lines faded and they are no more red lines, the influence and affectivity of the Turkish foreign policy lessened.''
(ÖŞ-AÖ) 11.11.2003