Turkey back-pedals on offer of bases to US

Turkey has back-pedalled furiously on an offer by its foreign minister to allow the United States to use military bases in the…

Turkey has back-pedalled furiously on an offer by its foreign minister to allow the United States to use military bases in the country for a strike against Iraq.

Hours later, worried officials at the ministry put out a statement saying Mr Yasar Yakis was speaking only of a "possibility" and not committing Turkey to US use of its bases.

Mr Yakis' original statement came yesterday as US deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz was in Turkey lobbying for support of an Iraq operation. The remarks and the later clarification reflect the extreme sensitivity of the issue of supporting a US attack on Iraq in Turkey.

The public in overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey is strongly against an attack, but Turkish politicians realise that the country, suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, will have little choice but to support its ally, the United States.

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In his remarks, Mr Yakis said: "There should not be left any stone unturned before resorting to a military solution But if it comes to that, then of course, we will co-operate with the United States because it's a big ally and we have excellent relations with the United States."

When asked to define co-operation, Mr Yakis said, "the opening of air space, first of all, and the utilisation of facilities in Turkey".

"The military authorities of the two countries are consulting on the assumption that such a co-operation may be necessary one day," he added.

But several hours later, the foreign ministry released a statement saying that Yakis' remarks were not a commitment to allow US use of bases. "The fact that he has referred to these possibilities does not mean a commitment on the part of Turkey because these possibilities have not been the subject of discussion with any country," the ministry said. "We are making this statement in order to bring clarity to this news."

Ankara's support is crucial to any war. Turkey already hosts some 50 US aircraft patrolling a no-fly zone over northern Iraq and was a key staging post for US air raids against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. Turkey, however, puts restrictions on aircraft patrolling the no-fly zone.

The Turkish military must also approve any strike in northern Iraq and must also approve the deployment of allied aircraft to the base and which weapons they use. Many Turks fear that a war will devastate the lucrative tourism industry as Turkey is struggling to recover from its worst recession in decades.

Mr Yakis' statements follow intense lobbying by the United States to win Turkey's support and comes just a week before a crucial EU summit in which Turkey is hoping to gain a date for starting EU membership talks. The United States has been pressing European states to agree to that request.

AP