MILLIYET- Columnist Fikret Bila writes on Turkey’s stance on the northern Iraq issue and recent developments regarding US plans to strike Iraq. A summary of his column is as follows:
Recent statements from US President George W. Bush indicate that the Bush administration is willing to try diplomacy ‘one more time’ in the hope that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will disarm and pledge to give up all his weapons of mass destruction. Bush's remarks gave the strongest signs to date that the US could accept Saddam's remaining in power if he complied with the UN disarmament resolutions. Which brings this question to mind: Are the clouds of war gathered over Iraq now dispersing? Reading Bush’s comments, the answer would probably be ‘yes.’ However, if we look at the ongoing US military preparations, our response to such a question would definitely be ‘no.’ Why is the Bush administration acting so apparently contradictorily? Is this just a strategic tactic, or is Bush really planning to alter his ‘zero tolerance’ Iraq policy?
Ankara is quite pleased with Bush’s recent statements. There are no countries besides Britain which support a military operation in Iraq, since US has failed to win widespread international support. However, it’s still too early to say that Bush has abandoned his plans to strike Iraq.
The most important figure during this critical juncture in history is surely Saddam Hussein himself. If he shows no inclination to live up to the UN demands, then everything might be turned upside down, once again destroying the world’s hopes for a peaceful solution.
If we look at the situation from Ankara’s point of view, wee see that Washington’s diplomatic efforts are extremely important to Turkey. Meanwhile, Ankara is closely following the latest developments in northern Iraq. Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel yesterday stated that Turkey has troops deployed in northern Iraq in order to protect its own security and national interests. ‘The world is well aware why Turkey has troops deployed in the region,’ said Gurel. ‘We can stockpile more weapons and ammunition there if our country’s national interests require us to do so. This has nothing to do with US policy on Iraq, it is a purely national matter. Our main objective is to block certain groups’ attempts to establish an independent Kurdish state in the region. Everybody remembers how certain groups tried to take advantage of the power vacuum which emerged in northern Iraq in the wake of the Gulf War. Turkey has been fighting against terrorists for years, which are headed by such groups in northern Iraq. I wish the Baghdad administration could have total control over the region so as to eliminate such groups. However, it doesn’t. That’s why Turkey has to take its own measures to protect its territorial integrity and national security.’
In brief, Ankara is closely watching both the US and northern Iraq, and it considers its northern Iraq policy a separate issue from US plans to oust Saddam Hussein.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION