Turkey rushes to repair ties with US

TURKEY yesterday rushed to repair ties with Washington after parliament blocked any US attack on Iraq through Turkish territory, and warned Baghdad not to delay co-operation with the United Nations.

Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan, speaking even as US navy ships waited off Turkey’s coast for a green light from Ankara, held out little hope to Washington that parliament might hold a fresh vote on the issue soon.

Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, before an emergency meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), said friendship with Washington would survive parliament’s rejection of a plan to admit 62,000 US troops as well as warplanes.

Saturday’s razor-edge vote shook the party leadership and dealt a blow to US military plans for a “northern front” against Iraq, with war perhaps only a few weeks away.

In rejecting Washington, Turkey stands to lose a multi-billion-dollar US aid package to shore up a frail economy recovering from its deepest recession since 1945.

A $16 billion IMF loan package could also now be seriously in question.

Ships bearing armour and supplies for the Fourth Infantry Division, waiting off Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, would have to be diverted south quickly to join an invasion force massing in the Gulf area.

The US and Britain have drawn up a second UN resolution designed to authorise force against Iraq, stating that it has failed to respect UN demands that it scrap nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programmes.

Diplomats said such a resolution could allow Ankara to present a revised US troop plan, or proposals simply for use of air bases, in a more sympathetic atmosphere.

However, no Security Council vote is likely for two weeks.