BAGHDAD — Governing Council Members lashed out Wednesday against a plan to deploy Turkish troops in Iraq, bringing the GC to its most serious confrontation with its US-led backers in the short history of the council. On Tuesday, the Turkish parliament approved plans to dispatch troops for a maximum of one year to Iraq, leaving the decision on the size, location and timing of the deployment to the to be worked out with the United States.
Almost immediately, GC members reacted to the plan, noting it would extend the occupation and delay the transfer of sovereignty back to the Iraqi leadership. The council as a whole rejected the plan, insisting that Iraq's neighbors should not play a military role in the country. But Kurdish leaders went further, arguing that Turkey has a different agenda and would encourage other Iraqi neighbors to enter the fray.
The first to speak out against the deployment was Mahmoud Othman, the head of the Kurdish Socialist Party (KSP). "The council is unanimously issuing a communiqué against sending Turkish forces to Iraq," said Othman. "It is the wrong thing to do; it does not add to security."
The Turkish government, for its part, cited Othman's ties to the PKK, the Kurdish opposition party in Turkey, as one likely reason for his opposition. Nonetheless, Othman said, the objection was unanimous. In principle, the council was "against having troops from any neighboring country."
Council Chairman Ayad Allawi, who took the reigns of the GC at the start of October, stressed that "important sensitivities" stood against a Turkish troop deployment in Iraq. But he was quick to also note that the council would not take a collision course with the CPA on that matter. Council spokesman Haider Ahmed said members told CPA administrator L. Paul Bremer that they were "concerned" about the presence of Turkish troops in Iraq but would continue to "discuss the matter with the coalition authorities to reach an acceptable formula."
No matter how it ends up, the planned deployment may set off a complex chain of events that would delay the transfer of sovereignty back to the Iraqi leadership, some GC members say. "Sending these troops would delay our regaining sovereignty", council member Nasir al-Chadarchi told Iraq Today as he awaited a statement from the GC's security committee. Chadarchi was part of a GC delegation sent to Turkey in September, and noted that Turkish authorities told the delegates that they would not send troops to Iraq without their approval. On Tuesday, Turks in Istanbul protested the Parliament's decision, insisting Turkey had no business with the occupation.
Allawi, the head of the GC security committee, sought to cool tempers noting, "we shall positively take into account the needs of our friends in the coalition, who are keen on having the Turkish army here. But at the same time there are important sensitivities that must be considered". Although Allawi did not explain what the "sensivities" were in his speech, it was an apparent reference to the staunch resistance of Iraqi Kurds. At the same time, Allawi's objection did not mean rejecting the presence of other troops on Iraqi soil.
"There are sensitivities in Iraq and a volatile situation continues to exist, we don't want to make things more volatile than they are now," he stressed. "We are looking for a wider UN approval or disapproval for the arrival of additional troops in Iraq". Allawi did not firmly end the discussion, but instead, hinted at willingness for some changes to the plan.
The Turkish government, on the other hand, stipulated that Turkey had a vital interest in sending the troops in order to restore stability in neighboring Iraq. It also highlighted that a "deployment would help crush terrorists of the Kurdistan workers' party (PKK)" based in northern Iraq. In closed-door sessions in Ankara, the Turkish parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of government motion to send peacekeeping troops to neighboring Iraq, a move that would relieve the United States as it is struggling to restore order in the low-level grinding war with armed resistance. The motion cleared parliament with a majority 358–183. Two abstained.
The decision made Turkey the first Muslim country to commit troops to Iraq. Turkey first made the offer in March, and reiterated it in July during a visit by Turkish foreign minister undersecretary Ugur Ziyal to Washington. General Abizaid conveyed the first official request from the US last Friday during his visits to Iraq's neighboring countries. The talk was also in tune with US conditions for an $ 8.5 billion loan to Turkey in return for "cooperation in Iraq."
In private discussions with parliament deputies, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan noted, "Every task has its risks.... but by sending troops, we can have a say in the new design [of Iraq]. We have to go there for the sake of Turkey's well-being and future."
Turkish troops would be deployed to Iraq "to help restore stability," Erdogan insisted. "Turkish soldiers will go there not as police or gendarme force. They will go there for peace and tranquility for the Iraqi people," Erdogan told the Anatolia News agency Thursday.
Turkey sought to allay fears that it had any hidden agenda in their participation in Iraq. Turkey's envoy in Baghdad, Osman Paskut, sought to placate Iraqi fears. "It is not the aim of Turkey to come to Iraq as an occupying force" he said, "we want to be here as a friendly, stabilizing and contributing factor". One Turkish government official pointed to previous experience with peacekeeping as an example of what's to come. "In the past the Serbs and others in the former Yugoslavia were skeptical about the presence of Turkish peacekeepers, and yet after that they saw their performance they admitted they were wrong. The same will apply in Iraq", the official said.
In Washington, the Bush administration welcomed the Turkish approval. "Turkey has an important role to play in stabilizing Iraq," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. "We will continue our discussion with Turkish authorities on the details of possible deployment."
The timing of the potential deployment coincides with the Bush administrations unsuccessful efforts to win UN backing for peacekeeping troops in Iraq. With a Turkish deployment, the US government may abandon attempts to get a UN vote. France, Germany and the Secretary General Kofi Annan were reluctant to back the policy and demanded a quick handover of sovereignty to Iraqi people before becoming involved.
"Handing power over too quickly to Iraqis risks dooming the nation to failure," said one US official. President Bush ordered a new White House panel to take charge of coordinating US activities in Iraq last week. The group will be headed by national security advisor Condoleezza Rice in what is seen as curtailing to Rumsfeld's tasks, the minister of defense.
An advance unit of Turkish advisors may travel to Iraq ahead of its troop deployment. US congressman Jim Saxon was due to meet deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin Thursday. And talks are planned between US ambassador to Turkey, Eric Edelman, and senior foreign ministry officials. Ultimately, both Governing Council members and CPA officials concede, the resolution of the matter will prove who has the final say in Iraqi affairs.
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