| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Turkey Signals Delay on U.S. Troop Deal |
| 2003-03-15 |
| Turkey's new government signaled Saturday it would wait at least another week to decide about the deployment of U.S. forces on its soil, but the United States appeared to be losing hope of using Turkey to open a northern front against Iraq. A senior U.S. official said Washington has now retracted its offer to give Turkey $15 billion in economic aid if it allowed the U.S. deployment. "The package was time-bound and we have moved on time-wise," the official said on condition of anonymity. It's a deader... The package of grants and loans was hammered out in tough negotiations and was aimed at cushioning Turkey's fragile economy from damage resulting from an Iraq war. But earlier this month the Turkish parliament rejected a resolution allowing tens of thousands of U.S. troops into the country. So now we don't give a färt... The decision severely strained ties between the NATO-allies, and Washington appeared less confident about using Turkey to open a northern front against Iraq. There was no immediate confirmation from Washington that the package was off the table. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who took over as prime minister Friday, wants his government to win a vote of confidence from lawmakers before deciding whether to make a second attempt for parliament's approval of the U.S. deployment. He indicated Saturday the confidence vote wouldn't come until next weekend. "We'll get around to it... One of these days." The official hinted that the United States had lost hope to see its troops launch an attack through Turkey, adding that Washington was now working to prevent Turkey from sending its troops into northern Iraq. "It is no secret that we wanted to have access through Turkey," a senior U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. "But we always said there would be ways to work around" a refusal by Turkey." Just make sure they stay the hell out of Kurdistan. Which they probably won't. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #5 Guess we're going to have to start cranking these out soon, scouting out a location for our Kurdistan base, and figuring out where the US embassy to the Independent Republic of Kurdistan's going to go. |
| Posted by: Christopher Johnson 2003-03-15 15:29:10 |
| #4 Chuck---Your 100% right. Our relationship with Turkey has been dead horse damaged, and the EU will toy with Turkey until the end of time. They made the decision and they will have to live with it. SK are ya watching this, eh? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-03-15 11:51:38 |
| #3 Too bad, Turkey. Short term gain at home, long term loss world wide. NO EU, no special relationship with the United States. |
| Posted by: Chuck 2003-03-15 10:45:45 |
| #2 Guess we're going to have to start cranking these out soon, scouting out a location for our Kurdistan base, and figuring out where the US embassy to the Independent Republic of Kurdistan's going to go. |
| Posted by: Christopher Johnson 3/15/2003 3:29:10 PM |
| #1 Too bad, Turkey. Short term gain at home, long term loss world wide. NO EU, no special relationship with the United States. |
| Posted by: Chuck 3/15/2003 10:45:45 AM |
