ANKARA, 5 September 2003 — US military experts started talks yesterday with their Turkish counterparts over Washington’s call for its NATO ally to send troops to help stabilize Iraq — a move opposed by Turkey’s public and Parliament. Officials said the discussions would tackle the practical details of any such dispatch, including how many Turkish soldiers might be involved, where they would be deployed, how they would coordinate with US troops, and the need for a secure corridor across the border for Turkish soldiers to move south into Iraq though restive Iraqi Kurdistan. Washington has been pressing Turkey to contribute troops to the occupation force in Iraq, where the coalition faces mounting casualties and instability.
The talks follow a high-profile visit here on Wednesday by US General James Jones, commander of NATO forces in Europe. But Ankara is not expected to bend unless Washington offers help in purging northern Iraq of Turkish Kurdish rebels hiding out there, according to press speculation. The government has taken no official position on the feelers put out by Washington, although Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he is in favor of sending troops to Iraq.
Any deployment would need the approval of Parliament, which is in recess until Oct. 1. The government however has said it would consider committing as many as 10,000 soldiers to a mission in Iraq. Press reports said they could be deployed in the province of Al-Anbar, west of Baghdad, an area where the majority of Muslims are Sunni, as in Turkey.
The zone encompasses the flashpoint town of Fallujah, a hotbed of anti-US sentiment where community leader Taha Badiui last month promised “hell” to any Turkish soldiers who occupy his city. He has since gone back on his warning, telling AFP that the city would better accept troops from a Muslim country than the US troops now stationed there.
