Turkish army chief says wary of Iraq war
( 2003-01-09 10:55 ) (7 )

The head of Turkey's powerful armed forces declared on Wednesday his country was reluctant to go to war against Iraq and said no one should depict Ankara as a "regional bully".

Chief of General Staff General Hilmi Ozkok denied reports Turkish troops had already been reinforced across the frontier in northern Iraq -- an area beyond Baghdad's rule since the 1991 Gulf War.

In the most extensive portrayal of military policy on Iraq yet, he told an Ankara reception that United Nations disputes with Baghdad should be settled peacefully.

"Efforts at a peaceful resolution should continue until the end," he said.

"I have not heard from anyone in Turkey the idea 'Let's also go to war with Iraq'," he said.

The United States will look to its key NATO ally for the use of air bases and, probably, facilities to launch special forces across the frontier into northern Iraq if it decides to attack Baghdad. Turkey allowed such flights in the first Gulf War in 1991 and, with its close military and economic links, seems likely to co-operate with Washington again.

CONTROL OF THE OIL

But both political and military leaders are making clear their reservations about any operation which could undermine the country's economic recovery. Diplomats say Turkish hesitation is causing some unease in Washington.

Turkey has kept troops in northern Iraq since the 1990s, pursuing Turkish Kurdish rebels and supporting a local Turkmen minority. The last few weeks have brought reports of strengthened Turkish troop movements across the mountainous frontier.

"No deployment into Iraq or in the vicinity has been made," he said. "Exaggerations... do not reflect the reality.

"Turkey is a respectful state. No one should depict it as a regional bully."

The military exerts a strong influence in Turkish politics and will have a strong say in any decision to back the United States, which accuses Iraq of developing nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Ozkok issued a further reminder to Iraq's Kurds, whom Ankara suspects of harbouring designs on oil fields in northern Iraq that would form the economic basis of a Kurdish state Ankara could not accept.

"The oil resources are property of all the Iraqi people and should remain under the control of Iraq's central authority," he said.

The fear that a Kurdish state could emerge from the wreckage of war in Iraq is one of the main concerns in Ankara, which fears this would fuel Kurdish separatism on its own territory. Government leaders have said Turkey would do what is necessary to prevent this happening, without speaking explicitly of force.