Turkey delays US permission on base

TURKISH Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis indicated yesterday a simple answer to Washington’s urgent request to allow US troops on its soil was not possible as there were several outstanding issues.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said earlier Washington expected to hear back from Turkey by last night on whether it accepts a final US offer of aid in exchange for placing troops on its borders for a possible attack on Iraq.

“Our talks are continuing on many issues. We have relayed our position to America on many of these issues, we want a reply from them,” Yakis said.

A US official said later Powell’s comments did not mean Washington expected a final response last night.

Senior US defence officials said Washington had told Ankara it needed to know by the end of the week if it would accept the troops. The US has expressed frustration over Turkish delays in holding a parliament vote to allow in tens of thousands of US troops, a key element in its pre-war planning.

That vote may not happen before next Tuesday, Salih Kapusuz, the deputy group head of Turkey's ruling party, said.

Turkey, in turn, wants to ensure maximum financial support for its fragile economy, as well as US guarantees it will not allow the formation of a separate Kurdish entity in northern Iraq following any war, a prospect Ankara fears may stir unrest among its own Kurdish minority.

“They too have defined their stance to us on some issues and are waiting for our response. There are many such issues,” Yakis said.

The NATO member wants to station troops across the border with Iraq during any conflict, independent of US command. That would prevent an influx of Iraqi refugees and a possible return of hundreds of armed Turkish Kurds holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq, it says.

Yakis told reporters earlier in the day that a final reply to the US on its last offer of aid, believed to total $6bn in grants and $20bn in loan guarantees for Turkey’s fragile economy, would not come last night. Turkey is seeking more than $30bn.

“A reply today is not being discussed,” he was quoted by the Anatolian news agency as saying.

The close allies have been involved in long-running talks over a multi-billion dollar financial aid package to help Turkey offset any losses in trade and tourism caused by the war.

The US says that an attack may be necessary to disarm Saddam of chemical weapons which it claims he is hiding.

Turkey is driving a hard bargain, saying it did not receive compensation for more than $30bn in losses it incurred during the 1991 Gulf War, a conflict Ankara says contributed to several economic crises, of which the latest was in 2001.