Turkey may vote next week on US troops
( 2003-02-21 08:13 ) (7 )

Brushing aside US warnings that time is running out, Turkey's foreign minister said Thursday that a parliamentary vote on basing tens of thousands of US troops for an Iraq war is unlikely before early next week.

But Yasar Yakis left open the possibility the government could decide in principle earlier and leave the final authorization for next week.

Economy Minister Ali Babacan was quoted as saying that the US-Turkish dispute on the deployment could be resolved "within the coming days."

The standoff centers around a Turkish demand for billions of dollars in US aid to offset losses in case of an Iraq war and comes as US ships loaded with tanks and other armor awaited orders off the Turkish coast.

Turkish leaders have said they will not agree to the deployment until the aid package is finalized. Secretary of State Colin Powell called Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul on Wednesday, a move that emphasized how critical the issue is for the United States.

In Washington, Powell said he expected an answer from Turkey by the end of Thursday.

Asked when Turkey would send its reply, Yakis said: "There is no question of an answer going today," the Anatolia news agency reported.

A Turkish parliamentary committee met Thursday and made no decision to open parliament this week, meaning that without a special request from the government, the legislature will remain closed until Tuesday.

"We have reached important results, however negotiations have not concluded yet, they are still ongoing," Yakis told legislators in parliament.

"If needed we will submit a motion. We're not there yet," he added.

"It is difficult for the authorization to come to parliament this week," Yakis was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency shortly before he spoke to the legislators.

"Even if there is an agreement, it may not come (to parliament) by Tuesday, because our lawmakers need to be informed," Yakis said.

Turkey's top politician, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was quoted as saying that the timing of a Turkish decision depended on the United States accepting Turkey's demands for aid.

"We don't have a timetable in mind," the Yeni Safak newspaper Thursday quoted him as saying. "Whenever there's an agreement, that's when a motion will be brought to parliament."

The deadlock comes as ships loaded with armor for the 4th Infantry Division waited off the coast of the southern Turkish port of Iskenderun in hopes of unloading, a US defense official in Washington said. Another 35 supply ships are on their way to the area.

Without access to bases in Turkey, the US military would have to abandon a central feature of its strategy for war against Iraq: using armored forces to open a northern front that would divide the Iraqi army.

The stalemate centers over Turkish demands for a reported $10 billion in grants and $20 billion in long-term loans. Babacan said the United States had offered $6 billion in grants, CNN-Turk reported. It is not clear how much was offered in loans.

The negotiations with Turkey involve the stationing of ground forces. Warplanes are widely expected to be based in Turkey as they were during the 1991 Gulf War. Some 50 US aircraft have long been in southern Turkey patrolling the "no-fly" zone over northern Iraq.

Many analysts say the US-Turkish talks are part of a delaying strategy by a Turkish government that feels trapped between the desires of its strongest ally and the wishes of the Turkish public, which is overwhelmingly against war.

Analysts have said that in the end, Turkey is almost certain to agree to at least some US demands to preserve its friendship with the United States, whose support for Turkey in the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have been critical for Ankara.

But Erdogan appeared to bring that into question. Although not a member of parliament, Erdogan is regarded as the power behind the scenes in Turkey's ruling party.

"There are many countries which do not support the United States but which are friends" of the United States, Erdogan said. "Will (Washington) also cut relations with France, China, Russia as well?"

That raised the prospect that the Turkish government might be trying to push the United States to abandon plans to use Turkish bases, a move many analysts say could lead to a serious rift between Washington and Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member.