World Tribune.com

NextCard Visa

Turkey feeling the heat as U.S. prepares response

Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Saturday, September 15, 2001

ANKARA Ñ Turkey is concerned over the prospect that Iraq played a role in the U.S. suicide bombings in New York and Washington.

Ankara's concern, they said, stems from the likelihood that the United States will retaliate against any party blamed for Tuesday's attacks. Turkey has been steadily improving its trade relations with Baghdad.

Turkey regards Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden as the chief culprit in the U.S. attacks, the sources said. They said Afghanistan probably served as the launching pad for the plot.

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Ankara and Washington are reviewing intelligence information that could shed light on the sponsors of the attacks. The prime minister suggested that Turkish intelligence had closely monitored Islamic groups linked to Bin Laden.

"There are various flows of information," Ecevit said. "The National Intelligence Agency will assess them. We should follow the developments with calmness and determination."

The sources said Turkey is concerned over the U.S. use of Turkey's southern air base at Incirlik for an attack on Iraq. Most of the U.S. attacks on Iraq have been launched from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.

Government sources said Ankara would not launch an independent investigation. But they said they are examining the prospect that Iraq is involved in the suicide jet crashes that destroyed the World Trade Center and a wing of the U.S. Defense Department.

On Thursday, Iraq said that British and U.S. warplanes attacked targets in the southern province of Wasit. Baghdad Radio said residential areas were bombed. U.S. military commanders denied the report and later Baghdad retracted its previous claim.

Turkey has stepped up alert and the military cancelled all leaves in wake of the U.S. catastrophe. The National Security Council established a crisis center and Incirlik was placed on red alert. Officials were also said to have drafted military contingency plans.

For its part, Iraq said the United States was to blame for the catastrophe. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the Bush administration lacks an understanding of world politics.

"Although Washington has major economic, military, technological and scientific potentials, it lacks wisdom," Saddam said.

Print this Article Print this Article Email this article Email this article Subscribe to this Feature Free Headline Alerts