MILITARY SEEKS ALTERNATIVES IN CASE TURKEY LIMITS ACCESS
By David S. Cloud
New York Times
Oct 12 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 – Loss of access to military installations in
Turkey would force the United States to send more supplies for Iraq
through other countries and could cause short-term backups in fuel
shipments and deliveries of critical equipment, senior officers
said Thursday.
The officials said they had a contingency plan in case Turkey followed
through on threats to shut off the United States military’s use to its
territory if the full House approved a resolution condemning the mass
killings of Armenians during World War I as an act of genocide. That
could mean the loss at least temporarily of Incirlik Air Base in
southeastern Turkey, a key resupply hub for Iraq, and the closing of
the Turkish-Iraq border to fuel trucks for the American military.
It could take months to increase operations in other logistical hubs,
including Jordan, Kuwait and at the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr in the
northern Persian Gulf, the officials said.
"Turkey has been a tremendous hub for us, and if we didn’t have it
that would increase time lines and distances," said a senior military
officer involved in logistical planning and operations. "But it would
be a short-term impact." The officer spoke on condition of anonymity,
as did other officials, because he was discussing matters of military
planning.
Turkey signaled its displeasure by recalling its ambassador to
Washington on Thursday, the day after the House Foreign Affairs
Committee endorsed the resolution. Meanwhile, Bush administration
officials stepped up their warnings that passage of the measure by
the full House could have dire consequences.
For the second day in a row, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned
about the "enormous implications" for American military operations
in Iraq if Turkey limited flights over its territory or restricted
access to Incirlik Air Base.
"All I can say is that a resolution that looks back almost 100 years to
an event that took place under a predecessor government, the Ottomans,
and that has enormous present-day implications for American soldiers
and Marines and sailors and airmen in Iraq, is something we need to
take very seriously," Mr. Gates told reporters in London.
In public, only Turkish legislators have explicitly warned of limiting
the American military presence, though other members of the government
have also warned of consequences.
"This is an issue where the Turkish officials have made clear their
very strong concerns about this and have raised questions about
potential consequences in the event that this resolution passes,"
said Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman.
Though a NATO ally, Turkey has proved a roadblock to American military
actions before, especially in March 2003, when its Parliament refused
to authorize movement of American ground troops through its territory
during the initial invasion of Iraq.
Mr. Gates and other military officials have said that 70 percent
of the military cargo sent to Iraq is flown through Incirlik or on
routes over Turkey.
To drive home the potential impact of the House action, American
officials have warned that delivery of new heavily armored trucks,
known as Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, could be
disrupted. Senior military officials said Thursday that the roughly
400 such vehicles delivered since July have been flown in over Turkey
but not landed on its territory. Those flights could avoid Turkish
airspace, if necessary, they said.