HEAD-ON CONFRONTATION LOOMS OVER BILL

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Oct 15 2007

Washington stepped up efforts over the weekend to soothe Ankara’s
anger over the US House’s adoption of a resolution labeling the mass
killings of Anatolian Armenians during World War I as genocide, but
there do not seem to be even any minor signs of backing down in the
Turkish capital, which asserts that the resolution is a fatal blow
to the future of bilateral relations between the two NATO allies.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said that Turkey would not be
deterred by the possible consequences, if it decides to stage a
cross-border offensive into Iraq.

The US administration’s efforts to contain possible damage are also
facing a daunting challenge from the rival Democrats, who remain
determined to press ahead with the resolution despite Ankara’s fury
and calls from the Republican administration against the motion.

"I said if it passed the committee that we would bring it to the
floor," Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said on
ABC television, claiming that possible reprisals affecting Turkey’s
cooperation with the US military were "hypothetical" and would not
derail the resolution. "Some of the things that are harmful to our
troops relate to values — Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture. All of
those issues [are] about who we are as a country. And I think that
our troops are well served when we declare who we are as a country
and increase the respect that people have for us as a nation."

Despite openly and loudly expressed concerns by the US side over
Turkey’s intention to launch a military operation into northern Iraq
to tackle the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases there,
a government bill seeking the go-ahead to launch an incursion in the
next year is expected to be submitted to Parliament after a Cabinet
meeting on Monday.On the military front, the top Turkish commander
bluntly warned Washington about the fatal impact of the resolution on
the deeply strategic military cooperation between the two countries,
describing the resolution as "a shot in the foot" for the US side.

US-Turkish military ties will never be the same if US lawmakers confirm
the committee vote, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaþar Buyukanýt said
in remarks published in the Sunday edition of the Milliyet daily.

Republicans are accusing Democrats, who control Congress, of waging an
"irresponsible" campaign of dubious historical validity that will hurt
US troops in Iraq. Turkey’s furious reaction to the congressional
vote has fuelled fears within the Bush administration that it
could lose access to a crucial military base in NATO ally Turkey,
affecting a vital supply line for US troops in Iraq. Adm. Metin Atac,
the commander-in-chief of the Turkish navy, has cancelled a planned
visit to the United States in protest.

While acknowledging strains in the US-Turkish relations following a
vote last week by the US Congressional committee on the resolution,
US Secretary of State Condoleez-za Rice said that she urged restraint
concerning Ankara’s plans for a military incursion into northern Iraq
during her telephone conversations on Friday with Turkey’s president,
prime minister and foreign minister.

"If terrorism is based in a neighboring country and if that country
does very little about it, then it falls upon us to act. After taking
this road, the cost is already calculated. The bill will be paid,"
Erdoðan said on Friday, responding to questions about international
reaction should such an operation take place. Erdoðan, in remarks
particularly critical of US demands, stressed that "nobody asked our
permission before launching an attack on Iraq from tens of thousands
of kilometers away." He also said that his country "had no need of
advice from anyone on the subject of an operation" against Iraq.

On Saturday, US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Dan
Fried and US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman flew
to Ankara from Moscow, where they had accompanied Rice. The hastily
held visit came as an apparent signal of the depth of US concerns
over the future of bilateral relations as well as of US recognition
of the gravity of Turkey’s resentment.

Edelman and Fried faced harsh criticism from Turkish officials over
the resolution in Ankara, which last week recalled its ambassador
in Washington, Nabi Þensoy, as part of its moves to demonstrate that
it is not "bluffing." Turkish officials told Fried and Edelman that
"if the resolution is passed in the House, it will lead to irreparable
damage in our relationship with the United States."

While the White House said it hoped for Þensoy’s speedy return to his
post, Þensoy, for his part, has made it clear that his being called
to the Turkish capital for consultations was "more of a protest."

Upon his arrival in Ýstanbul on Saturday, when reminded of media
interpretations suggesting that "he was withdrawn from his post in
Washington," Þensoy said: "The term ‘withdrawing’ is also used for
‘consultations’ in our diplomatic use [of terms]. This has a sui
generis meaning. It expressed more of a protest. It [my being called
for consultations] should be considered within that framework."

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Report: Turkey shells Iraq border areas

Turkish troops have begun shelling areas across the Iraqi border in
the autonomous Kurdish region, a news report said yesterday. "The
shelling began on Saturday night around 10 pm (1900 GMT)," Agence
France-Presse quoted an Iraqi officer as saying, speaking on condition
of anonymity. "It carried on sporadically," he said, adding that
the shells had struck vacant areas without causing any casualties. A
witness said the shells hit around villages in the Al-Amadiyah area
about 15 kilometers from the frontier and 50 kilometers northeast of
the town of Dohuk. Wahid Kista, 42, who lives in the village of Kista,
said by telephone the shelling was targeting villages in the Mt. Metin
area "where the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] has bases."

Iraqi and Turkish officials met in Baghdad on Friday in an attempt to
reduce tensions. A terse statement from the Iraqi government gave few
details of what Iraqi Defense Minister Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassim
and Ambassador Derya Kanbay discussed.

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