Turkey gives up sending forces to Iraq

The Turkish government gave up on dispatching forces to Iraq in order to support the coalition forces, according to the Turkish Anadul news agency, quoting governmental sources.

The agency explained that the Turkish government decided not to use the consent of the Turkish parliament during a vote on October 7th on sending soldiers to Iraq. Ankara's project was met with great opposition from the provisional governing council in Iraq especially its Kurdish members.

The agency added that the US secretary of state Colin Powell called on Thursday evening his Turkish peer Abdullah Gul to discuss the Iraqi issue, News reports in Turkey said that Washington disclosed on Thursday a plan to deploy American forces in al-Anbar and Salah Eddine without "giving the way for the Turkish forces."

This decision not to send forces to Iraq alleviates pressure on the government of the prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan where ( the government) is against the public opinion who is opposed to deployment of the forces under the pressure from Washington and the strong military establishment in Ankara.