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Turkey derides U.S. for war on terror

Chides Obama, too

By Barbara Slavin | Saturday, November 15, 2008

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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that "the situation in Iraq is not positive at all," contrary to U.S. claims of progress after five years of conflict.

Mr. Erdogan, in Washington to attend the Group of 20 financial summit, said Afghanistan was "another disastrous event" and that the Bush administration had spent more than $500 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan without stabilizing either country.

Bipartisan in his criticism, the Turkish leader also chided President-elect Barack Obama for openly promising to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months. It would have been better for Mr. Obama to have kept his timetable secret, Mr. Erdogan said.

Turkey opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its parliament failed to approve the transit of U.S. forces from bases in Turkey into Iraq at the time. Since then, however, Turkey has become a major supplier for U.S. forces. It fears a U.S. withdrawal could lead to even more instability in Iraq and a possible partition of the country that would aggravate Turkey's problems with a large Kurdish minority.

Mr. Erdogan, speaking at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank, said he had visited both Iraq and Afghanistan and "I couldn't help but wonder where does all that money [provided by the United States] go?" He said Turkey, instead of giving money, was building schools and hospitals and providing training to police and local governments.

"We are investing, not just paying," he said. "Instead of giving money, we prefer to give something tangible."

Mr. Erdogan said a too-quick withdrawal from Iraq was a bad idea because Iraqi "law enforcement has not yet matured" and local administration is also not ready to assume responsibility. Transitioning from a "totalitarian mentality ... is not an easy task," he said.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Mr. Erdogan's assessment of Iraq was overly pessimistic.

"Iraq's infrastructure, as well as the security situation in the country, is improving every day," Mr. Wood said. "While a lot of work remains to be done, the Iraqi government is making great progress in delivering services to its people. Iraqi security forces now control 13 of the country's 18 provinces, demonstrating Iraq's growing ability to provide for its own security."

Mark Parris, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and director of a Turkey project at Brookings, said Turkish leaders "after not wanting us to go in [to Iraq], don't want us to go out too quickly."