Ecevit: U.S. Military Operation Against Iraq Is Very Difficult Without Support Of Turkey

ANKARA - Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said on Friday that a U.S. military operation against Iraq is very difficult without the support and contribution of Turkey.
Responding to questions of journalists in state-run tv channel TRT, Ecevit said that taking of hostage of hundreds of people in a theatre by Chechen activists in Moscow is very worrying and sad, hoping the activists to give up their action as soon as possible. Ecevit stressed that Turkey is always resolved to assume a definite attitude against terrorism.
When asked about the softening in Iraqi policy of the U.S. following the visit of two American high ranking generals to Turkey, Ecevit said that the U.S. has not assumed a resolved attitude about this issue. Ecevit stressed that the U.S. talked about a military operation on the one hand, and it changed its expressions in the last one-two weeks. Ecevit said that U.S. President George W. Bush gave the first signal of softening in U.S. stance in his speech in the U.N., stressing that this is promising for Turkey.
When asked if Turkey had an influence in softening of the U.S. stance or not, Ecevit said that ''I can't say a definite thing now, but it is clear that Turkey is the country which the U.S. can rely on the most in this region. A U.S. military operation against Iraq is very difficult without the support and contribution of Turkey, in this respect the U.S. wants to take the support of Turkey in this issue.''
Ecevit said that the U.S. uses the Incirlik base, but it can't risk an operation against Iraq without getting the approval of Turkey, adding that ''I think the attitude of Turkey has played a positive influence on the U.S. administration even if it was not told to us openly.''
When asked how many soldiers Turkey currently had in Northern Iraq, Ecevit said, ''there is not a specific number of soldiers. There, our Turkmen brothers and sisters face some problems from time to time. We have a number of soldiers there to guarantee their safety, but we have not a high number of soldiers there. I mean to say that we have not had a specific number of soldiers necessary for an operation against Iraq.''
When asked what kind of a message brought to Ankara by Massoud Barzani's nephew, Ecevit said, ''I have not received information. I know he came on Thursday, but I don't know why he came here. Maybe, he should have come to ease the atmosphere since Turkey reacted to Barzani's statements. This is my suggestion, of course.''
Replying another question, Ecevit said that Turkey might suffer economic problems and there might be problems in tourism, exportation and foreign investment in case of a possible operation against Iraq.
''I don't even happen to think of Turkey's participation in such an operation on its own initiative. However, we may be obliged to join a part of such an operation without our will,'' Ecevit said and added that opinions of Turkey which was against an operation had been conveyed to the United States.
When recalled of an investigation into German foundations in Turkey, which caused question marks that whether Turkey did not want to join the European Union (EU), Ecevit said that not only Germany, but also many EU countries had two different attitudes about Turkey's membership.
Noting that EU officials were waiting for the results of the upcoming elections in Turkey, Ecevit said, ''the EU cannot be expected to accept a Turkey which comes to have little in common with secularism. Serious problems occur in relations between Turkey and the EU if the Justice and Development Party wins the majority in the parliament.''
Responding another question, Ecevit said that they would not accept a special status instead of a date for opening of accession talks at the Copenhagen summit in December.
Replying questions about Cyprus issue, Ecevit said that President Rauf Denktas of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was getting well.
When asked what Turkey would do if the Greek Cypriot side's EU membership application was accepted in December, Ecevit said that such a development made the current situation more obvious.
When asked whether or not annexation of the TRNC to Turkey could be in question, Ecevit said, ''there can be annexation, there can be autonomous relationship, there can be bringing relations to a further level. However, we have to explain to the EU and to the world what exactly the Cyprus issue is.''