MILLIYET- Columnist Fikret Bila writes on Turkey’s Iraq policy. A summary of his column is as follows:
Recent news coming from Baghdad has boosted Prime Minister Abdullah Gul’s hope for a peaceful solution to the Iraq problem.
After two days of talks between chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Mohamed ElBaradei, and senior Iraqi officials, Baghdad pledged to offer UN monitors more help in their search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction. Ankara was pleased with yesterday’s joint 10-point statement, noting that Iraq had granted access to all sites. Turkey had previously sent a message to Saddam Hussein calling on him to more actively cooperate with the UN weapons inspectors. That’s why after yesterday’s joint statement, Gul’s hopes for a peaceful settlement went up.
In his message to Saddam Hussein, Gul had recommended that the Iraqi leader improve his cooperation with the UN inspectors, permit UN officials to interview Iraqi scientists and show his readiness to respond to any question raised. Gul requested that Saddam take more active steps on these issues by Feb. 27, the date the UN weapons inspectors’ report on Iraq is to be issued.
Ankara considers yesterday’s developments very positive and promising. Turkish officials also believe that the Iraq summit to be held in Turkey this week will also greatly contribute to peace efforts. The summit is expected to take place on Thursday in Istanbul and to be attended by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Another summit is also to be held later with the attendance of the leaders of these countries plus Turkey.
Gul has three main points which he wants to discuss with these countries:
1) A peaceful resolution
2) Calculating and minimizing possible losses
3) Restructuring postwar Iraq
Gul’s chief advisor Ahmet Davutoglu identified these issues as the parts of a three-phase plan, adding that Turkey would decide its course of action on these issues after evaluating its neighbors’ stances.
‘In the first phase,’ said Davutoglu, ‘in order to force Saddam’s hand, Turkey will step up pressure on Baghdad after a declaration is issued at the Istanbul summit. The Turkish government wants Saddam to cooperate fully with the UN weapons inspectors. If Turkey and the Arab countries fail to avert a possible war, they will try to calculate possible losses and make every effort to minimize these for both themselves and the Iraqi people. In the third phase, if the US does end up waging a war against Saddam, Turkey and the Arab countries want to take an active role in restructuring postwar Iraq.’
Yet even as Ankara’s hopes for peace are rising, the Turkish Army is continuing its preparations for a possible war. Ankara wants to be ready in either case.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION