Turkish officials and the war against Iraq
Iraq-Turkey, Politics, 1/9/2003

Information leaked from the meeting of the Turkish parliament on Monday unveiled that the Turkish authorities permitted a team composed of 36 experts from the CIA accompanied by Turkish intelligence officers entered North Iraq during the 9th and 10th months of 2002 and that this team arrested some 150 Iraqis suspected to be agents for the intelligence of the Iraqi regime and they were transported to a third country for questioning.

Officials at the Turkish army chief of staff said during the meeting that the Turkish government agreed that an American team composed of 150 military experts accompanied by army officers from the Turkish army to examine the Turkish air force and ports which Washington asked to be used in any forthcoming military operation against Iraq on January 16th.

The information which leaked from the meeting and quoted by the Turkish mass media yesterday that Lt. Gen. Baker Kalyounji, the chairman of the planning movement in the Turkish army presidency said in the meeting that the US had redrawn the Middle East once again and is determined to change the regime in Iraq, which is rich in oil reserves that meets the American oil reserves for 100 years, besides the US determination to stay long in the region following the military operation.

The Turkish official added during his presentation he gave to the parliamentary foreign affairs committee "we have explained to the Americans our readiness and we stressed to them certain matters including deliberate rejection for the foundation of a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq and not to treat the Turkman in Karkouk and al-Mousel as a minority. We have also stressed that the Turkman are among the most important elements of the Iraqi state."

Lt. Gen. Baker listed the American demands proposed by the US administration to Turkey, including the deployment of 80,000 soldiers with a special force composed of 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers in Turkey. Among these demands are that Washington wants an a British force to take part in this force "permitting the planes flying from the British base in Cyprus to use the Turkish airspace; Permitting the intelligence center in Ancerlic base to use reconnaissance planes; using the airports of Ancerlic; Batman, Deyar Baker, Afyoun, Jourlo, Sbeiha and Kokijin and the ports of Tash Ojo in Mersin with the port of Alexandria."

Lt. Gen. Baker said that the outlines of the American plan to attack Iraq has started to take its final shape. According to the plan, the USA seeks to open three fronts from Kuwait, Jordan and Northern Iraq in order to attack Iraq by land and air. Built on that, Washington seeks to have 80,000 troops in Turkey and specify the names of 6 bases and three ports it wants to use within the Turkish territories, stressing that Washington set its recent position concerning striking Iraq even if Saddam Hussein quits the authority.

Previous Stories:
  Millyet: Turkish tanks incurred in Northern Iraq   (1/7/2003)
  Milliyet: Turkey for a Swiss system in Iraq   (1/4/2003)
  Turkey for a peaceful solution to the Iraqi issue   (1/3/2003)

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