ANKARA, 7 October 2003 — The Turkish government yesterday opted to send troops to neighboring Iraq and called on Parliament to approve the measure. The government’s spokesman, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, told reporters that all ministers had signed a motion calling on Parliament to authorize the dispatch of Turkish soldiers to Iraq, in response to a US request for military help in the increasingly turbulent country.
“We will probably send the motion to parliament this evening... The issue will be probably debated in parliament tomorrow,” Cicek said. The minister explained that the motion limited the term of the deployment to one year, but did not specify how many soldiers might be sent and to which region of Iraq.
Once the motion is adopted by Parliament, the government will have a free hand in negotiating outstanding questions with the United States, he said. Eager to win a say in the shaping of postwar Iraq and make up for its failure to back the war, Ankara has indicated it is willing to send up to 10,000 troops to help its US ally restore stability in its neighbor’s territory.
“Turkey is the first country to be affected by developments in Iraq, both negative and positive... We cannot just stand by and watch what is happening there,” Cicek said. He underlined that a military involvement will give Turkey a say in future developments not only in Iraq, but in the whole region and will help the country in its struggle against Kurdish rebels, many of whom are believed to be in hiding in northern Iraq.
Turkish public opinion is overwhelmingly against sending troops to Iraq, but the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has a comfortable majority in Parliament and its MPs are expected to approve the move.
The Iraqi leadership, and particularly the Iraqi Kurds who have had stormy ties with Ankara, have expressed opposition to the idea of a Turkish deployment. Bahram Saleh, a top aide of Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, yesterday warned against the deployment of more foreign soldiers to Iraq.
“Sending Turkish or other soldiers ... may harm the political and security situation,” Saleh told NTV television in remarks translated into Turkish. “Nothing should be done against the will of the Iraqi people... I guess Turkish leaders are also aware of how important this is,” he said.
Meanwhile, the US military in Iraq said yesterday it shut down a makeshift prison camp at Baghdad airport that had drawn criticism for the conditions in which hundreds of Iraqis were held in tents in the scorching Iraqi summer heat.
“It has been closed,” said US military spokesman Lt. Col. George Krivo, adding that the prisoners already had been moved out and that troops were busy dismantling the facility.
The camp, which housed common criminals, former ranking members of the ousted Iraqi regime and others accused of attacking US troops, was sharply criticized by human rights groups after former detainees said they were held in inhuman conditions. Krivo said the prisoners were moved to “superior facilities” that were not available when the camp was set up in April.
