New Turkish PM raises US troops hopes

America’s hopes of deploying troops along Turkey’s northern border with Iraq have been given a huge boost by the appointment of the charismatic leader of Turkey’s governing party as prime minister.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who favours the deployment, hinted yesterday that he would reshuffle the Cabinet, but gave no indication if he would get rid of officials who opposed letting in the US troops, as analysts have suggested he might do.

Erdogan is extremely popular in Turkey and is likely be one of the few leaders with enough clout to unite his party and gain public support for allowing in the US troops. Turks overwhelmingly oppose a war – by 94% – according to some polls.

Earlier this month, the Turkish parliament shocked the United States by rejecting the deployment by just four votes. Erdogan has hinted that he will resubmit the resolution for approval, which could take another week.

The United States is pressing Turkey to act quickly. Ships carrying equipment for US troops are already waiting off the Turkish coast.

In Washington, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Richard Myers said the United States would “have a northern option whether or not Turkey fully supports all our requests”.

“I’m not going to talk about the operational ways of doing it, but just be assured there will be a northern option,” he said.

Also in Washington, Turkish Ambassador Farouk Logoglu told the Associated Press that the US and Turkish military were holding informal discussions on the use of Turkish airspace.

The troop-basing resolution would allow the United States to use Turkish airspace. If the resolution is not passed, Washington would probably want to use the airspace for strikes against Iraq and for airlifting troops to northern Iraq.

Refusing access to the troop deployment would mean Turkey would lose a $15bn US aid package that Washington has offered to help cushion the country’s economy if there is war.

It would also threaten Turkey’s possible role in the future of Iraq. Turkey, which fears northern Iraqi Kurds may declare independence in the aftermath of a war, has been pressing for a say if Saddam Hussein is ousted. Secession by Iraqi Kurds could inspire Turkey’s rebel Kurds, who for 15 years have been fighting for autonomy.

After he was elected, Erdogan said Turkey wanted assurances from the United States on its role in Iraq.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday there had been talks that Turkish troops could be deployed “a short distance from their border to try to avoid refugee infiltration”.

Iraqi Kurds fear that Turkish troops could move deep into the autonomous enclave in northern Iraq and have threatened clashes.

Rumsfeld also said that like Turkey, the United States did not want to see a breakaway state: “Our interest, needless to say, is to see that Iraq remains a single country,” he said at the Pentagon news conference.

Prime minister Abdullah Gul resigned earlier yesterday to make way for Erdogan, who won a parliamentary seat in by-elections Sunday. Gul will remain as a caretaker prime minister until President Ahmet Necdet Sezer approves Erdogan’s Cabinet, a move that could happen as early as today.