Powell seeks restraints on Turkish army

US Secretary of State Colin Powell was today seeking an agreement with Turkish leaders to keep them from sending troops into northern Iraq.

“We believe that the work we are doing there now should make it unnecessary for them to consider any incursion in the region,” Powell said.

Turkey, with a large Kurdish population, is worried Iraqi Kurds might declare independence and embolden separatists in Turkey, who have fought for autonomy in the south-east for 15 years.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the White House envoy, has been meeting Turkish officials in search of an agreement in which Iraqi Kurds would promise to remain part of a post-war Iraqi government and Turkish forces would not go into the area.

“That is pretty much under control and I hope to come to a complete understanding,” Powell said yesterday as he flew to Ankara from Washington.

Powell acknowledged that Turkey felt great anxiety that the surge of Iraqi Kurdish refugees at the end of the 1991 Gulf War could recur.

Powell was holding talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and other Turkish officials over six-hours of meetings today.

About two dozen students protested against Powell’s visit outside the Foreign Ministry, chanting “Murderer, murderer, get out of Turkey!”

About five minutes before Powell arrived, police detained all of the protesters.

After his talks in Turkey, Powell is to fly to Belgrade for a courtesy call on President Svetozar Marovic and Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic of Serbia and Montenegro “to show our support for the country as they go through this difficult time and let them know we are with them.”

Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was assassinated last month in what was considered a severe blow to the evolution to democracy in what remains of the former Yugoslavia.

From Belgrade Powell was going to Brussels, Belgium, for consultations with European Union officials who planned to tell him tomorrow that the United Nations must play the central role in rebuilding post-war Iraq.

Powell was also meeting Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov in Brussels.

Asked about the war, the US Secretary of State remained optimistic.

“There is no doubt in my mind that we will prevail,” he said. “But I cannot tell you how long that will take.”

Powell, a former Army general who was chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Gulf War, said there were “rhythms and patterns” in all wars that were not easily apparent.