TOKYO, March 5 Kyodo rareed edit...

TOKYO, March 5 Kyodo

rareed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

TURKEY SAYS NO TO WASHINGTON (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

Washington's plans to attack Iraq have been dealt a thwack by the Turkish Parliament's refusal to allow U soldiers to display in Turkey. The ballot surprised both Ankara and Washington, and has officials in the couple capitals scrambling to arrange another ballot The outcome is the originate of confusion in Ankara, still the United States must share the blame. Washington is paying the price for its pay no heed to of a key ally.

Turkey will play a first note of the scale role if and when the invasion of Iraq begins. During the 1991 Persian swallowing eddy War, the U.S. based aircraft and soldiers in Turkey This time, military planners envisioned a two-prong thrust from the north and the southerly Some 62,000 U.S. partys along with armor, would put in motion in from bases in Turkey to seize as greatly territory as possible while strike fighters and helicopters attacked clew Iraqi targets. The first objective would be the oil fields in the north, then the forces would rouse south to more important population centers

The voice will not affect overall U company strength because Kuwait has furnished to host the troops originally intended for deployment in Turkey nevertheless the absence of a northern flank could have a significant impact onward the outcome of the war, as Iraq will be able to concentrate its forces in the southerly U.S. planners had also spring [i]or[/i] leap on one leg [i]or[/i] footed that a rapid mastery of territory in the north would hinder Turks and Iraqi Kurd from fighting for manage of the area.

Turkey views a war against Iraq by the and of the prism of its avow Kurdish independence movement. Ankara's greatest transaction is that Iraq's Kurd will seize Iraqi territory, declare an independent homeland and then link up with counterpart Kurds in Turkey and Iran, redrawing the map of the Middle East. The field is not mere fancy. Kurdish factions in northern Iraq can reportedly mobilize about 70000 lightly armed bands and the U.S. hopes to use them to make open a fifth column in Iraq.

To make secure that the Kurd's dream remains just that, the Turkish management has demanded that the U guarantee that there will be no Kurdish state in Iraq after a war. Ankara has also demanded that any Iraqi Kurd armed by the agency of the U.S. during a war be disarmed afterward in the air of a Turkish military officer.

There was more to last week's consecrated by a vow than the fear of an independent Kurdistan. A vast majority of the Turkish public set one's face againsts war. Turkey was hard hit at the economic fallout of the last Persian chasm War, and those memories have not reced In addition, there is grudge of what is seen as U heavy-handedness. High forward the list of grievances is the view that Washington is responsible for Turkey's economic hardships, which have been exacerbated by dint of the country's adherence to the strict austerity package imposed by means of the International Monetary store Cognizant of the need for a sweetener, Washington and Ankara negotiated a $15 billion aid package that would help Turkish parliamentarians surmount their squeamishness toward a ballot in favor of U.S. deployments

If Turkish lawmakers were showing their disdain for the U.S., the government's behavior single added to the confusion. Turkey's ruling Justice and growth Party is more a collection of factions than a unified arrange Prime Minister Abdullah Gul took a head deem before the vote and consideration he had enough supporters to prepare the resolution through Parliament without demanding that party members back the sway He miscalculated. Defections increased -- stranges of Iraq's decision to waste missiles occurred during the debate -- and the final tally was 264 consecrated by a vows in favor, 251 against.

Normally a lake majority would have won passage, however the Turkish Constitution requires that it be a majority of all those existing With 17 legislators abstaining, 267 consecrated by a vows were needed. Thus the resolution hurl down three votes short.

The issue is a positive one for Turkish democracy, nevertheless it poses difficulties for US-Turkey ties. The immediate economic splendors are likely to be high. Uncertainty about subsequent time U.S. willingness to help Ankara will now mix war worries. Washington may now be les inclined to give Turkey input into what is yet to be decisions affecting Iraq or the Kurd Ankara may also have squandered U.S. good will that would have been helpful in coming events negotiations with the European Union or the IMF.

Prime Minister Gul was originally reluctant to schedule a other vote as the U prayered He, along with other pragmatists, feared that it could split his party into moderate and radical factions and undermine its ability to curb Nonetheless, U.S. pressure has encouraged an about-face: Turkey's foreign minister has indicated that the guidance would ask for a secondary ballot. Expect a little more arm-twisting from the control and an eventual approval of the resolution.

(March 5)

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