Baykal: Decision About Turkey's Stance In Iraqi Crisis Should Be Made At Parliament

FLORENCE - Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said late on Friday that the decision about Turkey's stance in Iraqi crisis should be made at the parliament.
Baykal, who is in Florence, Italy to attend meeting of the Party of Social Democrats (PES), told reporters that he ''guessed that the United States could launch a military operation against Iraq at the beginning of March after it had activated military mechanisms this much.''
''The United States will not probably extend the period after it has made this much military deployment. Extension of the period will make Saddam Hussein a hero and strengthen terrorism and anti-U.S. circles,'' Baykal said.
Baykal noted that everyone was against the war and that Turkey had concerns about the status quo post bellum instead of feeling concerns over a possible military operation against Iraq.
Turkish soldiers were ready and had the capacity to take action immediately according to the stance of the government, Baykal added.
Meanwhile, CHP deputy Kemal Dervis, who attended Friday's meeting of PES, said that how the European Convention would be re-shaped, chairmanship system, participation of new members and how commission and convention would work were discussed at the meeting.