MILLIYET- Columnist Taha Akyol comments on recent developments on the Iraq issue. A summary of his column is as follows:
This weekend, Prime Minister Abdullah Gul met with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok to discuss recent developments on a proposal due at Parliament authorizing the US to station its troops here for a possible Iraq war. Sezer considers it vital that the UN Security Council pass a new resolution to provide international legitimacy for any Iraq war. For his part, Gen. Ozkok believes that Parliament should pass this proposal to protect Turkey’s national security.
Gul recently told the Bush administration that it would be very difficult to persuade Parliament on this issue since most of the deputies and Cabinet members are opposed to war. Gul stressed that the US should fulfill Turkey’s requests so as to facilitate the Parliament’s authorizing the US troop deployment.
It seems that the Bush administration heard Gul’s message loud and clear, as developments over the weekend demonstrate.
Washington has offered $6 billion in grants, or a substantially larger sum if Turkey opts for loans. The US is planning to take control of all Iraq’s oil revenues and national assets to destroy Saddam’s economic infrastructure and force Iraq to pay war indemnities! Turkey’s losses will be compensated from a ‘war indemnities fund’ to be established in the postwar period.
And what about political issues? The Bush administration is planning to establish a transitional administration in the post-Saddam period as follows:
A transitional military administration to be led by a US general will be established to ensure peace and stability in the region. A Turkish general is expected to represent our country within this structure.
A transitional civilian administration will be formed, one that will include a Turkish bureaucrat and ambassador.
A consultative assembly will be set up with the representation of Sunni and Shiite Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and other ethnic groups.
Upon Turkey’s insistence, the US has recently agreed to change Iraq’s Turkmen groups’ constitutional status to let them take part in the postwar political structure. In addition, Turkey and the US have also reached an agreement on the Kurdish issue. The number of weapons to be given to Kurdish groups will be limited and strictly controlled by US officials. After the war, there is to be a single, united Iraqi army.
Although the two countries have agreed on a number of sensitive issues, the negotiations are still continuing. I believe that the most important negotiations lie ahead, during the period of restructuring Iraq. Why is Turkey still being so reluctant and extremely cautious? The main reason is we already know that Kurdish groups in northern Iraq want to establish an independent state, a development which would very likely threaten our national security.
As far as these developments are concerned, this is the most critical period for Turkey since the Lausanne Treaty, the 1923 peace accord signed by Turkey. The diplomatic efforts and negotiations of Gul and his Cabinet are going well. Our parliamentarians should lend them their full support.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION