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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L12509736 Turk anti-US protesters clash with police at port ISKENDERUN, Turkey, March 12 (Reuters) - Turkish soldiers fired in the air on Wednesday as leftist demonstrators clashed with security forces outside a port being used for a U.S. military build-up against Iraq. The vast majority of Turks oppose a war on their neighbour and fellow Muslim country Iraq, but the government is under severe economic and political pressure to grant U.S. requests to allow troops to attack Iraq from Turkey, a NATO ally. Around 150 Turkish members of a small communist party tried to force their way through the gates of Iskenderun port on the Mediterranean coast. The protesters shouted "Yankee go home!" as blue-uniformed Turkish police and troops in camouflage uniforms and helmets blocked their way. Scuffles broke out and the troops fired off five or six short bursts of gunfire into the air. The crowd later dispersed. Ships have been unloading tonnes of U.S. military equipment at Iskenderun for weeks under an interim agreement with the Turkish government allowing the United States to upgrade bases and ports here. Forty-eight U.S. jeeps and trucks carrying containers left the base in two convoys on Wednesday morning before the protest started. Turkey's parliament rejected a recent government motion that would allow 62,000 troops as well as warplanes to deploy in Turkey for a possible attack on Iraq. But the government, bolstered now by military support might soon resubmit it. A U.S. financial aid package to shield the country against the effects of war is linked to Turkish support for the U.S. military. For Washington, which may be contemplating an assault this month, time is running short. Some 10 ships carrying armour and equipment for the Fourth Infantry division are waiting off the Turkish coast for permission to dock. >From Iskenderun, road and rail links could take the U.S. forces rapidly to Turkey's southern border with Iraq. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - establish your business online http://webhosting.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bdn7KI.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html ==^================================================================
