http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/
U.S. has not given up on access to strategic Incirlik base ANKARA � The United States has persisted in efforts to obtain expanded access to a key Turkish military base. The Bush administration has repeatedly raised a request for increased access to the Incirlik Air Force Base in southern Turkey, U.S. officials said. The U.S. Air Force wants approval for a process that would enable American warplanes to quickly land and take off from Incirlik. Denial of similar U.S. requests in the weeks before the U.S. invasion of Iraq has put a strain on bilateral ties. "We are interested in talking with Turkey about that and see if there is a sensible arrangement that we can both agree to," Defense Undersecretary for Policy Douglas Feith said. Feith is the latest senior U.S. official to visit Turkey over the past three months as part of the administration's campaign to obtain expanded base rights in Turkey. Over the weekend, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held talks in Ankara. Officials said the U.S. military wants to expand its presence in Incirlik and obtain rapid approval for training exercises and flights. They said that the current arrangement requires weeks of lead-time, and this has hampered operations both in neighboring Iraq and in the region. The U.S. military wants Turkey to be a regional center for rapid-response operations in the Middle East, particularly around Iraq. Officials envision Ankara as facilitating a process in which the United States would withdraw troops from Western Europe and deploy units in Asia and the Middle East. Turkey has so far resisted any revision of the 1980 mutual defense cooperation pact under the framework of NATO. Officials said Ankara appears to have linked any revision of the 1980 accord to a U.S. military operation to eliminate the Kurdish insurgency presence in northern Iraq near the Turkish border. So far, the administration has played down disagreements with Turkey on defense issues. Officials said the government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has been struggling with rising anti-U.S. sentiment. "We've had some differences over Iraq and many differences have caused problems," Feith said at the end of a two-day visit on Feb. 1. "But problems are not that unusual in an alliance of free countries. We have a useful, strong, deeply-rooted alliance with Turkey and it will continue." Feith refused to detail the U.S. request regarding Incirlik. But he denied reports that the administration has sought to deploy 48 F-16 fighter planes at the base. In 2004, Erdogan's government dismissed parliamentary criticism of the United States and relayed a formal request for Washington to upgrade more than 200 F-16 multi-role fighters. The project has been estimated at $3.9 billion. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
