Turkish Parliament Rejects U.S. Plan to Send 62,000 Combat Troops to Turkey for Iraq War

AP ^

[TheOtherOne]

Turkish Parliament Rejects U.S. Plan to Send 62,000 Combat Troops to Turkey for Iraq War
By Louis Meixler Associated Press Writer
Published: Mar 1, 2003

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey's parliament dealt a stunning blow to U.S. war planning Saturday by failing to approve a bill allowing in American combat troops to open a northern front against Iraq.

The decision, which likely will strain ties with Washington, marked a setback to U.S. efforts to show Saddam Hussein that he is surrounded and his neighbors support a U.S.-led coalition.

The parliament vote was 264-250 in favor, with 19 abstentions. But speaker Bulent Arinc said the outcome fell three votes short of the simple majority required by the constitution. He then closed parliament until Tuesday.

Prime Minister Abdullah Gul hastily met with top ministers and party leaders after the vote. Before going in, a visibly shaken and angry Gul said, "We will assess all this."

Gul did not speak after that meeting. Private NTV and CNN-Turk television stations quoted unnamed officials as saying the government was not planning to resubmit the motion to parliament.

Officials were not immediately available for comment. The leaders of Gul's Justice and Development Party are expected to meet Sunday to discuss what action to take.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Pearson rushed to the Foreign Ministry after the vote.

"We had certainly hoped for a favorable decision," he said. "We will wait for further information and advice from the government of Turkey about how we should proceed."

Turkish lawmakers had faced overwhelming public opposition to basing U.S. troops on Turkish soil. Yet Washington had been so sure of winning approval from close ally and NATO member Turkey, that ships carrying U.S. tanks are waiting off Turkey's coast for deployment and the U.S. military has thousands of tons of military equipment ready to unload at the southern Turkish port of Iskenderun.

For weeks, the Bush administration had been pressing Turkey to agree to a possible northern front, which would split Saddam Hussein's army between the north and the south, likely making a war shorter and less bloody.

The motion would have empowered Turkey's government to authorize the basing of up to 62,000 troops, 255 warplanes and 65 helicopters. In exchange, Washington promised $15 billion in loans and grants to cushion the Turkish economy from the impact of war.

Besides that funding, Turkey also risks losing Washington's support which was crucial in securing billions in loans that rescued the country during an economic crisis in 2001.

The United States has also pushed Turkey's eagerly sought candidacy in the European Union. And if Turkey does not agree to host U.S. forces, it loses a say in the future of neighboring Iraq if there is a war.

That is a critical issue for Turkey, which fears that a war could lead Kurds in northern Iraq to declare an independent state and in turn inspire Turkey's own Kurdish minority.

Nonetheless, Turkey's governing party had difficulty selling the unpopular measure to the Turkish people and could not push through the motion despite its overwhelming majority in parliament.

Polls show as much as 94 percent of the Muslim-dominated Turkish public opposes a war with Iraq. Before the vote, 50,000 Turks staged an anti-war rally near parliament as 4,000 police stood guard. They chanted "No to War" and "We don't want to be America's soldiers." Some carried banners that read: "The people will stop this war."

After the speaker nullified the vote, hundreds of Turks celebrated in the streets of central Ankara, shouting anti-U.S. slogans.

"We are all Iraqis ... We will not kill, we will not die," they chanted. They also accused the Islamic-rooted Justice party of "collaborating" with Washington.

The Justice party was planning to meet Sunday, said Reha Denemec, the party's deputy chairman. "We did not expect these results, but this is a democracy," he said.

AP-ES-03-01-03 2023EST

[Diddle E. Squat]

I hear the Urks were irked.

[TheOtherOne]

I know Bush is.

[Diddle E. Squat]

I am, too.

[jrlc]

Stick a fork in the Turkey. Bring on Kurdistan. Let's Roll!!!

[fiftymegaton]

We should have just asked Iran or Syria. We could have at least received the same answer.

[hemogoblin]

Sounds like a country that puts its petty political squabbles ahead of its obvious national interests. Gosh, can you imagine such a thing? Whew.

[mykdsmom]

But, but....Whoraldo told me he was SURE this was going to pass.

What are the implications of this? I know we have ships there just waiting to offload. Is there another country that will welcome us and will be just as good of a base site for aircraft etc?

I have to admit part of me is glad this happened, it will save us a ton of money in bailing out Turkey. I felt they were blackmailing us anyway. I'm very uneducated on the effect that this will all have though.

MKM

[tomahawk]

The Turkish economy is in the toilet.

Today, the Turkish parliament flushed.

Bye bye Turkish economy.

[Tax Government]

We should absolutely block Turkey's deployment of troops in Iraq.

[thinktwice]

U.S. Ambassador Robert Pearson rushed to the Foreign Ministry after the vote.

"We had certainly hoped for a favorable decision," he said. "We will wait for further information and advice from the government of Turkey about how we should proceed."

The President of the United States should sack this diplomatic turkey.

[Stopislamnow]

yep

bye bye any foriegn aid

[latrans]

So where does it say the Turkish troops are not going into Iraq?

[Beck_isright]

Translation:

The Turkish military is pissed off and will replace the civilian government again if this doesn't change and quick...watch and see.

[freedom44]

i am honestly very stunned at this development.
I know they have alot to worry about regarding their kurdish population, but i think the billions of dollars of aid was sufficient.

blah!

[Libertarianize the GOP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[maestro]

...outcome fell three votes short of the simple majority required by the constitution. He then closed parliament until Tuesday.

Holding their cards very close,.....playing later!

:-(

............................BTTT.....ping!

[Semper Paratus]

Holding their cards very close,.....playing later!

That's fine, unless the House closes the game!

[alancarp]

Gee, some of those billions would go a long way towards starting a nice little homeland for the Kurds...

[South Hawthorne]

Fine, they just saved the U.S. 15 Billion in bad loans.  We can set up in Armenia, Georgia or Azerbaijan just as easily.  And when the "democratic" government folds in a couple of years, we won't have to worry about losing an ally.

The fewer alliances we form with scumbag islamic governments, the better off we are.

 

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

[alancarp]

The parliament vote was 264-250 in favor, with 19 abstentions. But speaker Bulent Arinc said the outcome fell three votes short of the simple majority required by the constitution.

So who was counting the votes in those Broward County precincts???

[Mo1]

Me Too ... This roller coaster ride we have been on with the Turks is complete BS ..

[UncleSamUSA]

Which brings up another question I am almost afraid to ask:

If there are 15 members in the Security Council, and 8 represents a majority out of 15, then why are NINE votes neeeded for a resolution to pass.

Oh hell, why bothering to ask a question about the Frelling United Nations. Nothing there makes sense. Nothing.

[whadizit]

Bah Humbug!! The US does not "wait for advice from gov't of Turkey" in order to prosecute a war!! Who is in charge of this fiasco???? Get the hell out of there and tell them "buh bye"!

[maestro]

Right!

This whole ME 'debate' is IMO a delaying ploy to change this OP into their mutual OP to be named, "Desert Heat".

:-(

[dmeara]

Really.. what would be so bad about an independent Kurdistan, after all?

[Cvengr]

No problem, just push all the Iraqi forces into Turkey and let the Turks deal with it. If they loose, too bad.

[alancarp]

...9 of 15 majority...

I guess 60% is required if you're going through the UN. Or only one vote if you're going through 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!

[Republican Wildcat]

Need to get three of those 19 abstentions to come on board.

[what i think]

i think a pact with the kurds is now impossible. we sold them out in 91, and we were about to do it again. would you trust us?

[Procyon]

Let's unload the ships at Haifa and roll everything through Jordan. Give the Jordies the $15 billion.

I have an idea the Turks don't want the US in the north, because when the war starts, they intend themselves to occupy northern Iraq to prevent the establishment of a Republic of Kurdistan.

[dalebert]

Wonder what they want now?

[rs79bm]

I say ta' hell with 'em if $20 Billion isn't enough. We don't need you either, Turkey.

[spitz]

Does this mean Turkey will suspend all overflights to Kuwait of American Aircraft from Europe? They’ve already held up the RAF deploying extra aircraft from Cyprus.

[tomahawk]

Turkey cannot stay for long in northern Iraq. That would make them invaders, unlike the U.S., which are liberators.

[eleni121]

Why is anyone surprised? Does no one remember Turks' complete lack of support for the US and allies in Desert Storm?

We don’t need Turkey in order to defeat Saddam Hussein!

The argument used by Turkey’s proponents and paid foreign agents that we cannot defeat or use force against Iraq without Turkey is without merit. The U.S. does not need the Incirlik NATO air base in southeast Turkey to use force against Iraq. The U.S. has several air bases as near and nearer to Iraq than Incirlik, including the British base on Cyprus and several U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf area and aircraft carriers. The Washington Post lists nine air bases in addition to Incirlik and aircraft carriers in an article "War Plans Target Hussein Power Base" (Wash. Post, Sept. 22, 2002, at A1, col. 5).

The Persian Gulf War proved that the U.S. does not need Turkey regarding our use of force against Saddam Hussein. Turkey refused the use of its air space and Incirlik during Desert Shield from August 2, 1990 to January 16, 1991; refused the U.S. request to open a second front against Iraq (Wash. Post, Jan. 16, 1991, at A6, col. 5) and allowed large-scale smuggling along its 206 mile border with Iraq (Wall Street Journal Oct. 30, 1990, at 1, col.1).

[what i think]

we've made a terrible mistake in assuming turkey would help us. those ships will have to be moved now to kuwait. i have heard that it will delay deployment by over 30 days, taking us more and more into the summer months.
bush should horsewhip the team that was in charge of this.

[CatoRenasci]

And the way North from Jordan is through Syria -- which neds to be taken care of as well.

The Turks have really screwed the pooch on this one. End NATO now, form an alliance with the Brits, Spanish, Italians and the Eastern Europeans, and tell the Greeks they're welcome to the Turks.

[Siobhan]

I suspect setting up in Armenia would be an appropriate way to spank Turkey. Give 4 billion dollars to Armenia and watch Turkey freak out.

[maestro]

Your#38)................You understand the game!

Nasty, nasty. :-)

[Dirk McQuickly]

I don't think anyone assumed anything. Do you really think the start of this war hinged on Turkey? Heard a special ops' guy on NPR this morning saying that the U.S. military has improved by a factor of TEN since the first Gulf war, and the Iraqi army has regressed by HALF. We are going to be dropping so many bombs on Baghdad and Tikrit in the first 48 hours, there is little doubt in my mind that this war can be one with half of what we have over there now. My guess is that the Iraqi army will turn on the palace within the first 24 hours.

[Dirk McQuickly]

"won", not "one"

[kimosabe31]

"I have to admit part of me is glad this happened, it will save us a ton of money in bailing out Turkey. I felt they were blackmailing us anyway."

Sadly we'll probably give them the money anyway.

[Steve Eisenberg]

So where does it say the Turkish troops are not going into Iraq?

latrans has the right idea here. Besides that, since when does Turkey's military take orders from its parliament? It is always possible from civilian control over the military will arise in Turkey, but I don't know that I would predict it at just this moment.

[Steve Eisenberg]

The Turkish military is pissed off and will replace the civilian government again if this doesn't change and quick...watch and see.

Good analysis. Hopefully everyone who is anyone in Turkey will recognize this and act accordingly.

[Symptom of the Universe]

I think that little red pop up timer went off. Will we be having potatoes or stuffing? Both I hope, I'm hungry. Let's see how these sound; The Republic of Kurdistan, or United Islamic Republic of Kurdistan,or maybe The Peoples Republic of Kurdistan. Either way Turkey's worst nightmare is about to come true. That's too bad, my father works in Turkey, and he's worked in Russia,Singapore,Saudi Arabia,Malaysia,Pakistan,Venezuela,Colombia, and some other places I can't remember. Note to self ; ask dad what he really does for a living. Let's Roll!

[The Duke]

Actually, I think we're forgetting the perfect country in which we should establish our military base - Iraq itself! (Although, I should accompany this with the disclaimer that I disagree with the strategy of going to war against Iraq).

[kimosabe31]

We should've finished Turkey off during WWI.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[eeriegeno]

Colin Powell made a serious mistake late in 2002. He assumed that the folks at the United Nations and the leaders of the middle eastern countries are rational humans.....