Turkey approves peacekeeping troops for Iraq

Turkish lawmakers yesterday overwhelmingly approved a U.S. request to send peacekeeping troops to neighboring Iraq, despite the deep misgivings of senior members of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

The 358-183 vote in the Turkish parliament seemed certain to improve ties with Washington that were badly strained by Turkey’s failure to back President Bush in the war to oust Saddam Hussein.

But the move also set the stage for another clash between the Bush administration and leaders of Iraq’s 24-person Governing Council, many of whom fear a Turkish deployment would inflame ethnic tensions and harm the already shaky security situation.

Iyad Allawi, the current head of the Iraqi council, denied earlier press reports that the IGC had formally rejected the Turkish contingent, saying that the matter would be taken up with Coalition Provisional Authority administrator L. Paul Bremer at a meeting today.

But other representatives said an overwhelming majority of the IGC opposes letting Turkish troops enter the country, in particular because of long-standing tensions between Turks and the Kurds who dominate Iraq’s north.

Iraq’s Kurds have long feared Turkey had territorial ambitions across the border, while Turkish leaders have faced a long and bloody separatist struggle with Turkey’s own ethnic Kurdish minority.

“The Governing Council’s stand is against the presence of troops from neighboring countries without exception, and Turkey is one of these countries,” said Nabeil al-Moussawi of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), whose head Ahmad Chalabi had been a leading U.S. ally in the run-up to the war and now sits on the IGC.

“We believe any interference from a neighboring country, either north, south, west or east, is unacceptable,” Mouwafak Al-Rabii, a Shi’ite council member and longtime human rights activist, told reporters in Baghdad. “This interference is unacceptable.”

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher praised Turkey’s decision and said U.S. officials are urging both sides to keep “an open mind” about a Turkish deployment.

“We’re not going to ram anything down anyone’s throat,” Mr. Boucher said.

But even as U.S. officials tout the increasing powers being given to the Governing Council, they say that the ultimate security decisions in Baghdad still are being made by Mr. Bremer.

Asked if the Governing Council could veto a Turkish deployment, a senior State Department official said, “I don’t know the specific legal aspects of this, but in these matters, the coalition remains very much in charge of security and related issues.”

Washington has been keen to enlist troops from Muslim nations such as Turkey for Iraq duty, in part to ease the strain on U.S. forces and in part to allay suspicions in the Arab world about the coalition’s long-term intentions.

Turkey, a NATO ally with highly regarded troops, could supply as many of 10,000 soldiers to complement the 130,000 U.S. personnel in Iraq. About 30 nations now contribute troops and logistical support to the Iraqi mission, with Britain, Poland, Spain and Ukraine deploying the largest contingents.

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