ANKARA Ñ U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz will arrive here for talks this weekend as the growing political crisis threatens to derail
U.S.-Turkish strategic cooperation in the critical months before a U.S-led offensive against Iraq.
"The United States and the European Union are following the government
crisis in Turkey probably more closely than are the Turkish people, as this
political crisis is concerned with two timetables in the United States and
the European Union," Zeypnep Gurcanli writes in the Star daily. "The United
States needs a serious and stable government in Ankara to coordinate its
operation plans against Iraq."
Wolfowitz is expected to meet Turkish leaders in a visit scheduled to begin on Sunday, Middle East Newsline reported.
Officials said the talks would
include plans to expand military and defense relations and cooperation against Iraq.
The talks take place amid the worst coalition crisis under the
government headed by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. Analysts said the
coalition crisis and the prospect of early elections could derail
U.S.-Turkish strategic cooperation.
[Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit came out fighting on Friday as he faced a major challenge from a newly-declared center-left bloc that staked its claim to power saying the premier was no longer able to govern.
"We must continue with this government until the end," Ecevit said in a live television interview, brushing off all talk of early elections and insisting that his apparently divided coalition could reach agreement on the European Union.]
Wolfowitz appears to have been chosen to lead the U.S. delegation
because of his close ties to Ankara, officials said. In recent interviews
and speeches, Wolfowitz has termed Turkey as a leading ally of the United
States and a model for Arab countries that seek to become modern and
democratic.
Officials said Wolfowitz will seek to resolve a series of issues,
including Turkish arms purchases and cooperation against Iraq and in the
U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. They said the most criticial issue is Turkey's
demand for nearly $30 million in U.S. aid to finance Ankara's command of the
international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
Another issue regards Turkey's dispute with the European Union over the
European Defense and Security Policy, which plans to deploy a 60,000-member
European force in 2003. Ankara, which is not an EU member, wants a formal
say in the decisions of the European force.
Turkish analysts said they expect Wolfowitz to focus on Ankara's support
for any U.S.-led military campaign against Iraq. Turkey has formally opposed
a U.S. attack on Baghdad but the analysts said Ankara is ready to change its
mind in exchange for Washington's aid on a range of political and military
issues.
The Ankara-based Cumhuriyet daily reported that Wolfowitz is expected to
brief Turkish leaders regarding U.S. plans to topple the regime of Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein as well as Washington's vision of a successor.
Turkey has denied reports that thousands of U.S. troops have already arrived
at Incerlik air base in southern Turkey as well as in the border region with
Iraq.
In Washington, U.S. analysts and officials acknowledge the difficulties
in persuading Turkey to join a U.S.-led military campaign against Iraq. They
said Ankara's chief concern is that the destruction of the Saddam regime
will result in an independent Kurdish entity in northern Iraq, which would
prompt separatism in southeastern Turkey.
"They fear the creation of a Kurdish state and the disintegration of
Iraq," said Helena Kane Finn, who heads the Turkish research program at the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "In the current environment, it
will be difficult for the United States to persuade the Turkish people, much
as they loathe Saddam Hussein, that regime change in Iraq is a worthwhile
undertaking."
