From: Rick Rozoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: US-Turkey Axis: Asia, Cyprus, Caucasus, Caspian Pipeline [WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- http://www.turkishdailynews.com Turkish Daily News November 3, 2001 ? Turkey invests troops to guarantee future role in Central Asia despite risks Cyprus warning from Cem Turkey, Britain - America's closest allies Bryza: Baku-Ceyhan is a reality; no chance of the pipeline passing through Armenia; we hope Denktas will return Washington: We are grateful for Turkey's decision ? NEWS ANALYSIS -- Turkey's decision to send special forces mainly to back the opposition in Afghanistan in particular stem from Turkey's long-term goal of becoming one of the main actors in reshaping political developments in the region despite all the risks Turkey invests troops to guarantee future role in Central Asia despite risks Lale Sariibrahimoglu Turkey's decision to send troops to Afghanistan, not only to train the U.S.-backed opposition in this country to overthrow Taliban rule harboring terrorist Osama bin Laden but also to play a possible active role side by side the U.S. forces, has appeared to have been a result of a domestic consideration to safeguard long-term strategic interests lying in the region rather than a request made by the United States, said well-informed sources. In fact the United States has been seeking assurances from Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member state, to provide assistance when requested in its fight against terrorism in Afghanistan, launched almost 27 days ago to trace and put and end to both Taliban rule and bin Laden, who Washington regards as the prime suspect for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. Members of the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance, fighting against Taliban rule, reportedly suggested that Turkey send special units to train their forces, who know the tough terrain of their country but lack sophisticated techniques such as operational planning in the fight against terrorists. A meeting scheduled to take place in Ankara recently by the Northern Alliance, made up mainly of Tajiks, Uzbeks and other ethnic groups, has become an uncertainty. It is also possible that Turkey's plans to send troops there might have been a reason for Ankara suggesting that the parties postpone the meeting. Turkey announced on Nov. 1 that it would send about 90 special forces units composed of officers and petty officers to Afghanistan to train the Afghani opposition and to back the U.S. war against the ruling Taliban harboring terrorist bin Laden. Turkish Parliament gave the tri-party coalition government on Oct. 10 full war powers to send troops abroad in support of U.S.-led action and to allow foreign troops to be deployed on Turkish soil. A military analyst recalled that many of those Turkish troops speak not only the local language in Afghanistan but also English. It is a fact that having over 30,000 trained special forces the United States could have fought with the aid of Britain alone. But Ankara's announcement to send its special units, who gained important expertise in the war against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), came more as a result of Turkey's own long-term strategic considerations in gaining influence in the region for the future despite all the risks, said a Turkish military analyst. Retired Gen. Sadi Erguvenc, who served in southeastern Turkey as the Commander of the Second Tactical Air Force Command, said that Afghanistan itself as well as Central Asia is a region that Turkey has close interests with due to its strong ethnic links but also due to the economic and political considerations. "If Turkey wants to have a say in Afghanistan's future this should have been backed by sending troops. It is true that Turkey becomes a participant in the war. But it has to explain to the Muslim world that Turkey is sending troops to fight against terrorism and for humanitarian purposes to help fellow Muslims. Turkey has not decided to send troops to Afghanistan because the United States wanted it but rather to safeguard its own national interest," stresses Erguvenc. Symbolic in size but efficient in techniques The number of Turkish special forces team of 90 is rather symbolic in size, admitted military analysts, while adding, however, that their special training against guerilla warfare and the fact that they are Muslim troops, might be hoped to win the hearts of the Afghan Muslim population. Although the government earlier limited the role of the Turkish troops to helping the Afghani opposition in training, intelligence and peacekeeping, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit conceded to the press on Nov. 1 that Turkish special forces may also be deployed in areas other than opposition where the U.S. forces have been active. Turkey, which has close intelligence links with the Afghan opposition, said it would also help with the establishment of a broad-based government if the Taliban is overthrown while helping its Afghan brothers achieve stability and peace. A Turkish government statement also underlined the purposes of sending specially trained troops to the region to train the Northern Alliance, and meet the humanitarian needs of the Afghan people. When asked whether Turkey will draw the hostility of Islamic countries by entering into war during the upcoming month of Ramadan, a holy feast for Muslims, Ecevit said: "Terror has neither flag nor feast. Terrorism continue its effectiveness during Ramadan too." Turkey, a close ally of the United States, announced on Sept. 22 that it had granted a U.S. request to open its airspace and airbases for the use of U.S. transport aircraft. One Western source recalled that the state-of-the-art NATO-equipped Incirlik base in southern Turkey has been a tremendous assistance for both the U.S. and British forces. The U.S. and British forces have been using the Incirlik base for refuelling and for the deployment of their troops to countries such as Uzbekistan, neighboring Afghanistan. Turkey has apparently been feeling that it has not received much credit for this important assistance that it has been giving to the United States and Britain by opening its airbases and airspace. "The second logical step for Turkey has been sending troops there (Afghanistan)," stressed a Western military analyst. The way that the Turkish civilian and military bureaucracy handled the design of this Turkish foreign policy issue with great secrecy has underlined a harmony existing on both sides. This has not been the case in recent years when the military and the then governments had been unable to display harmony. Meanwhile, the Turkish government's decision to send troops to Afghanistan prompted a slight decline in the value of the Turkish lira, which has seen a dramatic loss since the February crisis against the U.S. dollar, raising expectations that the government move will secure international loans backed by the United States. Turkey is seeking an additional loan guarantee of $13 billion urgently to help with the recovery of the economy. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ankara - Turkish Daily News Foreign minister says Turkey may be compelled to take a costly decision on Cyprus Cyprus warning from Cem Turkey may soon be compelled to take a "costly decision" on Cyprus, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said. "On the Cyprus issue, developments unfortunately are not promising. Our government and Parliament may be compelled in a short while to take a definitive decision on Cyprus. Of course, there will be a heavy cost for such a decision," Cem told the Parliamentary Budget and Planning Commission. The remarks of Cem came amid reports that the United Nations has launched a new bid to review the stalled Cyprus proximity talks process. Alvaro de Soto, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special adviser on Cyprus, arrived in Cyprus on Friday for talks with Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas and his Greek Cypriot counterpart Glafcos Clerides. The U.N. envoy will move on to Turkey on Monday and to Greece on Tuesday before returning to New York on Wednesday to report on his talks to Annan. De Soto has been one of many mediators who have tried to reunify the Mediterranean island's Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities under a federal umbrella. The Turkish Cypriots want a loose confederation. Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas has boycotted UN-sponsored talks for a year, demanding to be acknowledged as an equal of Clerides, president of the internationally-recognized "government of Cyprus," now in talks to join the European Union. Cem warned Friday that Turkey was a reconciliatory state but won't surrender its rights. The foreign minister said Greek Cypriot EU membership would upset the security balances in the eastern Mediterranean, a development that Turkey would not accept. "We kept on stressing that we cannot compromise on this issue. Greek Cypriot EU membership would amount to discarding Turkey's interests and worries. Turkey would be compelled to make a decision and either say "up to this point (and give up the Cyprus cause)," a decision no one would want, or will be obliged to say 'I don't recognize this decision.' Under such a situation, Turkey may have to take a very definite decision. We should know that there will be a cost of that decision. But, we ought to take that decision," Cem said. Parliament's Foreign Relations Commission Chairman Kamran Inan agreed with Cem that pressures were increasing on Turkey for a concession on the Cyprus issue and stressed that the EU wanted Turkey to relinquish all its rights on Cyprus. Recalling that EU Commissioner Romano Prodi clearly told Greek Cypriot Parliament that the Greek Cypriot sector would be the first country to be admitted into the European Union, the EU membership would encompass the entire island and that they have launched a propaganda campaign to overcome the resistance of Denktas to such a development. "Such a development may even upset the balances established with the Lousanne Treaty. It is high time to raise this issue to the agenda of the international community," he said. Main opposition True Path Party (DYP) deputy Oguz Tezmen expressed support to the remarks of Cem and said his party was against any concession on Cyprus and supported the firm stance of the foreign minister regarding the Cyprus problem. Ankara - Turkish Daily News Turkey, Britain - America's closest allies Bryza: Baku-Ceyhan is a reality; no chance of the pipeline passing through Armenia; we hope Denktas will return Matt Bryza of President Bush's National Security Council addressed the Assembly of Turkish American Associations in a meeting held at Congress and said that when it came to security cooperation, the United States had no closer allies than Great Britain and Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. Bryza said that Turkey was playing a critical role in the Caucasus and had offered the United States the greatest support in Afghanistan adding that the country was an extremely important ally. When asked by journalists whether any decision had been taken with regard to new economic aid to close Turkey's deficits, Bryza said they were working on it but that no decision had been taken yet. He praised the steps under State Minister Kemal Dervis' leadership and said the reforms were appreciated. Bryza said that prior to the attacks of Sept. 11, the consequences of the "bitter pill" that was being taken had been seen in the press and that this was taken as a sign the economy was on the right track. He noted that the Sept. 11 attacks had caused problems not just for Turkey's but for the world's economy. In reply to a journalist who said about the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, "Russia will not allow it and the U.S. administration doesn't want it enough," Bryza said such rumors were definitely false and that the pipeline was as will be a reality. He further stated that the U.S. administration had rejected ideas of passing the pipeline through Armenia rather than Georgia saying the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan route suited American interests and investors' wishes and was supported by Vice President Dick Cheney and the administration. Bryza also noted Georgia's "weaknesses" and said they were encouraging Georgian head of state Eduard Shevardnadze to enact "dangerous but critical" reforms. He noted that the United States needed Turkey's help in Georgia. Reflecting the U.S. interest in a solution to the Cyprus issue, Bryza said they hoped Denktas would soon return to the negotiating table. "Cyprus will in all probability become an EU member and the United States is not strong enough to block this. The clock is ticking. Something needs to be done," he said. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic Democrat Party representative for Florida Robert Wexler asked the Bush administration to do whatever was necessary to help a crucial ally like Turkey meet its economic needs. Wexler, a known friend of Turkey, said the Turkish-American Friendship Group in Congress was working hard to this end. On the subject of fighting terrorism, Wexler said there were only three countries actually working shoulder to shoulder against terrorism and they were the United States, Great Britain and Turkey. Ankara - Turkish Daily News Washington: We are grateful for Turkey's decision The Turkish government's decision to send special elite forces to Afghanistan was welcomed by Washington. While U.S. Department of State spokesman Phil Reeker was saying that his country greatly appreciated Turkey's offer of support, the annual meeting of the Assembly of the Turkish American Associations (ATAA), which was held in Washington, became the ground for the mutual exchange of messages between the United States and Turkey. The Turkish side repeated commitment to the U.S. fight against terrorism in messages made on the occasion of the assembly and Washington reiterated the importance it gives to Ankara. In a message to the 22nd annual meeting of the ATAA, U.S. President George W. Bush said that they got the idea of forming an international coalition for the fight against terrorism from Ataturk. Bush made reference to the words of Ataturk that the speediest and most active way of achieving victory was to form an international coalition. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Find a job, post your resume. http://careers.yahoo.com ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spXC Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <A HREF=" http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spXC "> AOL users click here.</A> T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
