|
Turkey denies British troops role on border
Turkey is withholding permission for the deployment of British troops in support of American ground forces preparing a northern front against Saddam Hussein's regime. A formal request made three weeks ago has still not been answered. News of the delay emerged as Turkey's foreign minister, Yasar Yakis, flew to Washington to smooth its troubled military cooperation with the US. The row within Nato over deploying troops to the Turkish border with Iraq last night also remained deadlocked. One Istanbul newspaper has reported Turkish military sources as saying that senior officers are reluctant to accept British troops because they fear the British "are trying to influence the Iraqi Kurds to create distrust for Ankara". They may also remember Gallipoli, and the plans Churchill had for Turkey after WW I. The formal request was made in late January when the chief of the defence staff, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, met his Turkish counterpart, General Hilmi Ozkok and visited the Turkish airbase at Incirlik, where a British squadron of Jaguars enforces the no-fly zone over northern Iraq. The 16 air assault brigade, several thousand strong, consists of two battalions of the Parachute regiment as well as commando units, helicopters and engineers. The delay reflects growing anxiety about the turmoil which might erupt in northern Iraq in the event of a war. Washington insists Turkish forces in northern Iraq should be under the command of American generals; Turkey, which has up to 15,000 soldiers in the Kurdish semi-autonomous enclave, has dismissed the request. There are fears of clashes between Turkish forces and Kurdish groups. Turkish soldiers are likely to begin search and destroy missions against the last mountain refuges occupied by Kadek, formerly known as the the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. They can't do that if they're under American command, so ... The threat of Turkish military intervention has already triggered a threat from Kadek - on ceasefire for the past three years - that it may resume its terror campaign. Earlier this week Osman Ocalan, the brother of the group's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, said militants would reinfiltrate Turkey if Turkish troops entered the region. "If Turkey sees the issue as a vendetta and starts an annihilation war, the [Ankara] government will seal its own end," Ocalan said. "The armed resistance will be carried out in the widest possible area." This would be very bad for the region, and particularly bad for Osman's health. In Brussels, Nato's 19 ambassadors met for the third day of a crisis that has shaken the alliance to its foundations and risked rendering it irrelevant as the US loses patience with its European allies. France appeared determined to block a possible compromise over the issue of defending Turkey in case of attack by Iraq despite proposals by the secretary general, George Robertson, to drop earlier requests that European al lies replace US troops serving in the Balkans. France, Germany and Belgium vetoed the original proposals on Monday. The view in Brussels is that they are unlikely to budge until after the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, reports to the security council tomorrow. And they'll find another excuse after that. Turkey, invoking Nato's protection in anticipation of war with Iraq, has formally requested the deployment of Awacs early-warning planes, Patriot anti-missile batteries and specialised infantry units trained to resist attacks by chemical and biological weapons. Some commentators suggest Nato's deployments could be used for offensive as a well as defensive operations. All this gives great comfort to our new NATO members in eastern Europe, who now are permitted to wonder if the French would come to their aid in the future. No wait, they don't wonder at all. Along the Turkish border with Iraq, householders have begun putting plastic sheeting over doors and windows or creating sealed, safe rooms to protect them against possible Iraqi gas attacks. Mr Yakis's talks in Washington will focus on Turkey's request for extra cash for agreeing to open its bases to US forces. The Turkish parliament will vote next Tuesday on whether to formally authorise military cooperation. How long will it take to get our units in place after that? Posted by: Steve White 2003-02-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=10187 |