2
Augustos 2002
2. "Turkish MPs debate EU reforms in stormy session", Turkish legislators on Thursday began debating democratic reforms seen as vital to the Muslim nation's bid to join the European Union, a day after setting snap elections that will end the government's term 18 months early. Tempers ran high in the session, with nationalist MPs saying that the reforms, which envisage expanded rights for the sizeable Kurdish minority among other changes, would "dynamite" Turkey's unity.
3. "Turkey wants to be a modern European nation", there is a growing hope that we are seeing the demise of an entire class of political antiques.
4. "Iraqi Kurds moving toward a unified parliament: official", the two main Kurdish factions who have disputed control of northern Iraq took another step toward reconciliation on Thursday by agreeing to set up a provisional parliament, an official of one of the groups said. The announcement comes a day after officials said the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani would meet again next week to finalize an agreement on the implementation of a 1998 US-brokered peace deal. The two Kurdish groups "have agreed to form a provisional parliament," PUK political bureau member Adnane al-Mufti told AFP.
5. "Turkish election comes at difficult time", Washington holds up its NATO-ally Turkey as a shining example of Muslim democracy. But democracies hold elections and sometimes they come at inconvenient times. Turkey will go to the polls in November -- as will the United States for congressional elections -- at the very moment when Washington may be looking to Ankara for support in a military campaign to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
6. "Parris summed up Turkish views", Parris called US to include Turkey as part of Iraq solution.
Dear reader,
Due to the holiday time our "Flash Bulletin" will not be forwarded to email addresses from August 1, 2002 until August 25, 2002. It can be viewed, however, in the internet at www.flash-bulletin.de as usual.
1. - Reuters - "Kurd issue being debated with more openness":
ISTANBUL / 2 August 2002 / by Steve Bryant 
A few years ago, merely suggesting some of the reforms that Turkey's
parliament is now debating was landing scores of leftists and Kurds
in jail. Now, the idea that Turkey's estimated 12 million Kurds could
be allowed to study and broadcast in their own language is no longer
universally considered "separatist propaganda".
Instead, it is a central electoral pitch for many parties campaigning for the November 3 election and an essential plank of their drive for European Union membership.
The outcome of the debate on a package of EU-inspired human rights reforms will show to what extent Turkey has managed the transformation from a country ultra-sensitive about its national identity to a serious, self-confident EU candidate.
At the height of the battle with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in the mainly-Kurdish southeast 10 years ago, anyone who suggested allowing Kurdish television or education was labelled a fellow-traveller of the PKK.
More than 30,000 people died in the conflict, most of them PKK rebels, according to official statistics. Many Kurds were jailed. Many others suspected of PKK sympathies were killed in mysterious circumstances.
Turkey's establishment has long argued that allowing the Kurds cultural freedom would encourage separatism, and a stern nationalism that put down roots during the fighting burns on brightly - even though the conflict has all but ended since the arrest of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
"LANGUAGE THREAT":
"I think the (Kurdish) language will threaten our social cohesion. Social cohesion is very important and these instruments have been used by the PKK," says Oktay Vural, a senior government minister in the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), the reforms' prime parliamentary opponent.
"We cannot give any instruments to these terrorist groups to be used as a leverage. We have to think of the security and unity of Turkey."
Even those who champion the reforms cast themselves as servants of national founder Kemal Ataturk's desire for Turkey to match the best of the West, rather than friends of the Kurds.
Vural may avoid using the word "Kurdish" - but so does Mesut Yilmaz, the conservative who has done most to champion the reforms, and who spoke only of "mother tongue" and "traditional languages and dialects" when he defended the package last week.
Although the Kurdish problem can now be debated with, for Turkey, surprising openness in the press, the generation who served long jail terms for criticizing Turkey's treatment of its Kurds are not greatly impressed yet.
"These reforms have nothing to do with any desire to change Turkey's militarism or the culture of intimidation. These changes are political acrobatics," said Haluk Gerger, one of those who went to prison for "subversive" pro-Kurdish writings. But he and other campaigners say it would be churlish not to welcome the proposals and the changes that made them possible.
"I believe that, compared to yesterday, there are amazing changes in Turkey," says Murat Bozlak, chief of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP), the leading legal Kurdish party.
One of those changes gives HADEP some protection from bring shut down for separatism like its two predecessors. Another, part of the EU reform package, would almost completely abolish the death penalty - just three years after a huge popular clamour for Ocalan to be hanged.
TOO LITTLE SUPPORT?:
But there lies the main problem with the reforms. Many of the leftists
and radicals who campaigned for them fear that too little has been done
to anchor popular support for the shift outside the wealthy, educated,
pro-European suburbs.
"The steps Turkey is taking are not real steps on the road to democracy. Everything done in recent years has been to meet EU standards and is premature, and in a way cosmetic," said Kerim Yildiz of the London-based Kurdish Human Rights Project.
"Turkey has never made a single one of these reforms
because it wants to. But even if they are premature, we have to see
them as positive. We could not have dreamed of this 10 years ago, and
many have paid a high price for them," Yildiz added. 
2. - AFP - "Turkish MPs debate EU reforms in stormy session":
ANKARA / 1 August 2002 
Turkish legislators on Thursday began debating democratic reforms
seen as vital to the Muslim nation's bid to join the European Union,
a day after setting snap elections that will end the government's term
18 months early. Tempers ran high in the session, with nationalist MPs
saying that the reforms, which envisage expanded rights for the sizeable
Kurdish minority among other changes, would "dynamite" Turkey's
unity.
The draft reforms scrap the death penalty except during wartime -- a change that would save condemned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan from the gallows -- legalizes Kurdish-language courses and broadcasts, and eases restrictions on freedom of expression and association. The need to fulfill the reforms under EU accession norms is a highly controversial issue for a nation traumatized by a bloody struggle between Kurdish rebels and the army that has claimed some 36,500 lives since 1984. Ailing Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit voiced optimism that the package would be adopted.
"I am hopeful. We have reached a point of no return. If parties keep their promises there will be no problem," he told the Radikal daily. The parliament's move boosted confidence on the battered markets, with shares jumping 3.4 percent, but experts warned the failure of the package would be damaging. "If the reforms are not endorsed, we can expect a serious deterioration," one economist said. The business community robustly backs Turkey's EU bid, arguing that progress would help lure foreign investment, seen as vital for the success of IMF-backed efforts to overcome a severe economic recession.
A government rift over EU norms lies at the core of months of political turmoil in Ankara, with Ecevit's senior partner and the biggest political force in parliament -- the far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP) -- stiffly opposed to abolishing the death sentence and giving Kurds cultural rights. An MHP deputy told parliament that "nobody could save the murderer of 30,000 people (refering to Ocalan) from the hands of the Turkish people," while another urged MPs to reject the reforms to prevent "dynamite from being planted on the foundations" of Turkey's unity. The MHP says increased minority rights could fan nationalist sentiment among the Kurds and rekindle the recently subdued conflict in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
Opposition support for the reforms has become crucial due to MHP resistance, but while committing themselves to Turkey's European integration, all opposition parties have attached strings to their support. The adoption of the reforms was far from certain as political parties, their mind on elections, zig-zagged on their position. Analysts say legislators may be reluctant to vote in favor of the package in a bid to escape the anger of nationalist voters in the November 3 polls. Ecevit had sought to oppose early elections, seen by many as an escape from weeks of political crisis, saying the snap poll would derail both economic and democratic reforms.
The most ardent proponent of the EU-oriented changes is Ecevit's junior partner, the Motherland Party (ANAP), which proposed the reform package. Referring to Turkey's crippled democracy, ANAP leader Mesut Yilmaz told MPs: "It is not right to be ashamed of or to cover our deficiencies. We cannot resolve the problems if we do not acknowledge them." Many fear that Turkey, which is trailing in a queue of 13 EU hopefuls, will see its much-coveted EU bid postponed indefinitely if it fails to obtain a date for the start of accession talks by the end of the year when the EU is to draw up its enlargement plan.
Critics, on the other hand, say the reform package is
far from being a guarantee for the opening of negotiations, particularly
when the long-standing Cyprus conflict remains unresolved. Since 1974,
Turkey has held the northern third of the island, whose internationally-recognized
Greek Cypriot side is a front-runner for EU membership.
3. - The Independent - "Turkey wants to be a modern European nation":
There is a growing hope that we are seeing the demise of an entire class of political antiques
2 August 2002 / by Maureen Freely
Are they with us or against us? Not all concerned observers would
put it quite so crudely. Not everyone wants to sound like Bush. But
it's still what everyone wants to know, and for obvious reasons. If
the war on terror moves to Iraq, Turkey could soon become Bush's most
significant ally. But can we depend on them? How many of them have pro-Islamist
sentiments? How many of these will vote for the new Islamist party in
the upcoming election?
How serious is Turkey really – about joining Europe? And bearing in mind Cyprus, the Kurds, the unresolved economic crisis and Turkey's poor human rights record, how serious should we be about letting them in?
All reasonable questions, if you're looking at Turkey from the West. But as I sit here on the European shore of the Bosphorus, all I notice is what they miss out on. The preoccupation is with Turkey's general usefulness, or the trouble it could cause if it went the wrong way. Because the interest in Turkey is crisis-led, there is rarely an opportunity for European journalists based here to give a sense of the many and dramatic social changes that Turkey has seen since first applying to join the EU.
Granted, the degree of ignorance about things Turkish is not as dire as it once was. When I first set foot in London in 1966, and told classmates that I had grown up in Istanbul, their first comment was usually something along the lines of 'Did you ride to school on a camel?' Today, their children know better.
And while it is true that people boarding planes for Bodrum and Marmaris tend to have a greater interest in beaches than in politics, their stock response when they return is how different the people were from their expectations. This suggests an interest in knowing more about the country than the current rules of reporting allow.
For example. How have ordinary people kept themselves going over the past three years, in spite of earthquakes, stock market crashes, huge rises in unemployment, devaluations and never-ending political soap opera? More to the point, who are these people?
The standard (and correct) platitude is that 99 per cent of them are Muslim, and mostly Sunni Muslim, but that occludes a large minority of Alevi Muslims.
Alevis do not face Mecca when praying, are egalitarian in outlook, have traditionally supported left or non establishment parties, believe in education for women, and do not make women cover their heads.
They have often been very critical of hardline Islamist parties, while at the same time they are proud to identify themselves as Muslims. A large proportion of Turks who identify as Kurds are also Alevis. Another large proportion are Sunnis who also identify themselves as hardline Islamists.
In spite of these dizzying but extremely important distinctions, there is a lot of common ground. Like all the other groups that make up the complex demographics of Anatolia, they have been part of a massive movement over the past four decades from the countryside to the city, and from the cities of Turkey to the cities of Northern Europe.
Although it could be said that the family and community links have survived and even sustained this new Turkish diaspora, the people inside those families have modernised at a rate that indigenous Europeans would find terrifying and crippling. And yet they've not just survived but prospered.
Before the recent economic crisis, the Turkish economy was growing at a faster rate than any country in Europe. This is caused and fuelled by the steady growth in the number of Turks going into higher education and also by the rise and rise of a new middle-class.
It is important to remember that the people who voted for the hardline Islamists that had Europe so alarmed during the Nineties were as much part of this trend as those who identified as pro-Westerners. Yes, the Islamists wanted more Koranic schools. And yes, they made a big deal about covering their women. But bright, middle-class covered women were just as keen to get an education. If not all of them have succeeded, it's largely due to a university law banning women wearing headscarves from university campuses.
Even last summer, the threat that these women supposedly posed to Western democracy was something most middle-class Westernised Turks felt very keenly. But with the economic crisis soon to enter its third year, the most remarkable thing is the growing area of consensus amongst political enemies.
It doesn't matter who you're talking to; they can be Islamist or Westward-looking, covered or uncovered, cleaning the park or running a bank – they all express an utter despair about the political classes. They do not feel they represent the Turkish people and, if you use a traditional European understanding of a representative government, they are right. Domestic policies are rarely electoral issues, but now more than ever they are what most people care most about.
Strangely enough, they don't want to see their hard work go under-rewarded anymore. They want a decent and stable standard of life. They want their children to have educations. For a rapidly growing majority, Europe equals a chance for prosperity and their children's only hope. This is why even the new Islamist AK party is in favour of joining the EU. The only party now opposing union is the anti-West, nationalist MHP.
Tomorrow it could be different; in Turkish politics it almost always is. But there is a growing hope that we are seeing the last days of a creaking and outmoded political machine, and the demise of an entire class of political antiques. After decades of false dawns, no one is expecting great things overnight from Ismail Cem's New Turkey.
There is great disquiet about the Iraq question, and the economic crisis is far from over. Turkey is still the IMF greatest debtor. Bush looms large, and may force Turkey to support a war about which even the military is extremely skeptical. But at the same time, there is a hope that Turkey is at a turning point, and that a new political class will emerge to take into Europe.
Which is why the question we should be asking is not: "Are they with us or against us?" but, bearing in mind how much they have to give: "What can we do to bring them closer?" This month's political crisis has delayed the passing of the EU laws that would have done away with the death penalty, paved the way for teaching and broadcasting in Kurdish, and lifted restrictions on freedom of assembly.
Only two years ago, the passage of such legislation would have been unthinkable – in spite of steady and very courageous lobbying on the part of Turkish as well as Europe-based human rights organisations. Now – thanks to the growing support for European union – it has overwhelming support.
It would be a tragedy for Turkey, for Europe, and for the human rights movement if we allow Bush's war on terror to get in the way of the laws going through. It would be hypocritical, and politically stupid, to stand by and let the US put unfair pressure on Turkey to fit in with its Iraq plans, if we also have qualms about being put under the same pressures.
What's the point of belonging to the same union, if we're
not looking after each other? If we want Turkey to change its outlook,
we need to change our, too. And the first thing we need to do is examine
our own prejudices.
4. - AFP - "Iraqi Kurds moving toward a unified
parliament: official":
SULAYMANIYA-IRAQ / 1 August 2002
The two main Kurdish factions who have disputed control of northern
Iraq took another step toward reconciliation on Thursday by agreeing
to set up a provisional parliament, an official of one of the groups
said. The announcement comes a day after officials said the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani would meet again next week to
finalize an agreement on the implementation of a 1998 US-brokered peace
deal. The two Kurdish groups "have agreed to form a provisional
parliament," PUK political bureau member Adnane al-Mufti told AFP.
The provisional parliament "will have as its mission to normalize the situation in Kurdistan to prepare the ground for new elections," said Mufti, who is also vice president of the Kurdish administration in the northern PUK-controlled city of Suleimaniya, about 260 kilometres (160 miles) northeast of Baghdad. The Hawlati newspaper, published in Suleimaniya, said Monday that the two parties had agreed to hold elections to a new regional parliament within six to nine months, "conditions in the area permitting," and to allow each faction to reopen offices in the zone controlled by the other. The KDP and PUK often fought each other in the past for predominance in the Western-protected enclave in northern Iraq, which has been off-limits to the Baghdad government since the end of the 1991 Gulf War.
The KDP-PUK rapprochement, seen as a movement to consolidate gains in their autonomy, comes against the backdrop of US threats to launch a military strike against Iraq and topple the regime of President Saddam Hussein for allegedly harbouring a programme to build weapons of mass destruction. The Kurdish region could be expected to have a key role in any move to remove Saddam, since it could become a base for attacks against Baghdad. But many Kurds fear a failed US attack would leave them vulnerable to fresh revenge strikes from Saddam, who has killed thousands of them in putting down uprisings, or that any new regime would also reject their independence claims. Mufti said that "the first steps toward normalization (between Kurds) would be to authorize the re-opening of the offices in the other's territory, freeing the remaining detainees and proceed to progressively unify."
Asked about a meeting between Talabani and Barzani in Germany in mid-April where they were said to have not only pledged to complete implementation of the 1998 peace accord, but pool resources to combat Islamist radicals in the area, he said there were expectations of a unified force. "There is no agreement for the setting-up of a unified force, but such a force would normally be created," he said. The PUK has had problems in recent months with Islamist radicals based in the part of Iraqi Kurdistan it controls, pushing them back to the mountainous Biara region bordering Iran.
"Iraqi Kurd official stresses safety of his people
amid talk of US strike"
A senior official from a northern Iraqi Kurdish faction said here Thursday
that the safety of people in their internationally
protected region was a priority amid growing talk of a possible US strike
against Baghdad. "We live in this region and we have to be very
careful. We cannot throw the lives of our people at risk," Barham
Salih from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) told reporters upon
his arrival here, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Salih, the head of the local government in PUK-controlled territory, is scheduled to meet with Turkish officials Friday before he leaves for the United States for a meeting of the Iraqi opposition later this month to discuss the future of Iraq. Salih reiterated the PUK's desire for democracy in Iraq, which he said should come through a peaceful transition. "We are evaluating all options for a democratic Iraq," he said. "The time has come to come together to resolve Iraq's problems and thus give the people of Iraq the opportunity to integrate with the rest of the world."
The PUK, which shares control of northern Iraq with another Kurdish faction, had previously declared it favoured a democratic change in Iraq involving forces within the country rather than outside military intervention. But the US administration has toughened up its stance against Iraq, which it classifies as a terrorist state, with US President George W. Bush affirming on Thursday that he still deemed a regime change in Iraq critical.
Turkey, a key US ally battling a severe economic crisis with early elections set for November, is opposed to any military moves against its southern neighbour, fearing an economic and political fallout of a war. Ankara is concerned that turmoil in Iraq could lead to an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq, which has been outside Baghdad's control since the 1991 Gulf War.
Such a development could fan separatist sentiment among
Kurds in Turkey's southeast and rekindle a recently subdued Kurdish
rebellion for self-rule, Turkey, which allows US and British warplanes
to fly from a base in Turkey to enforce the no-fly zone over northern
Iraq, has previously asked the United States to keep it closely informed
on any plans regarding Iraq.
5. - Reuters - "Turkish election comes at difficult time":
ANKARA / 2 August 2002 / by Claudia Parsons 
Washington holds up its NATO-ally Turkey as a shining example of
Muslim democracy. But democracies hold elections and sometimes they
come at inconvenient times.
Turkey will go to the polls in November -- as will the United States for congressional elections -- at the very moment when Washington may be looking to Ankara for support in a military campaign to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Turkey has long been a loyal ally to the United States but a change of prime minister can only complicate U.S. preparations for military action that is widely expected to happen eventually, though perhaps not until as late as next year.
The biggest uncertainty surrounds the front-runner in the opinion polls, the Justice and Development or AK Party, which is viewed with deep suspicion by Turkey's secular establishment because of its Islamist roots.
AK leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces legal challenges to ban him from politics, even though his party, drawing on a strong protest vote after more than a year of financial crisis, is streets ahead in the opinion polls.
Polls have been wrong in the past. They failed to predict the strong showing by the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) in the last election, and some are funded by political parties.
But AK has got some people worried. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit fought a losing battle to avoid early elections, relying on the argument that a vote could play into the hands of the "twin demons" of Islamism and Kurdish separatism.
"AK Party may not be dangerous at all but if important power centres perceive them as dangerous then there's not much to be done," said Cengiz Candar, a columnist on Yeni Safak newspaper.
"If they get a sweeping victory there will be trouble." AK emerged last year from the ruins of the Virtue Party which was banned as a focus of Islamist militancy. Virtue split in two, with Erdogan at the head of a more moderate group that he wants to present as a conservative democratic party.
AKP says it would, on taking power, fulfil its obligations under international treaties and carry out the terms of a $16 billion International Monetary Fund rescue programme with "only some refinements" to ease popular hardship.
AKP claims to be different
The party has reached out to business and western diplomats to differentiate itself from its forerunners. "There hasn't been a lot to indicate that they're monsters," said one diplomat.
The last government led by Islamists was forced to resign in 1997 by a military campaign that has been described as a "post-modern coup". Analysts note, however, that the military has done little to block elections that AK seems likely to do well in, indicating perhaps that their concerns are not so deep.
Any government emerging from the November 3 election will most likely be a coalition. More than 45 parties are contesting the election and even AKP is not expected to win much more than 20 to 25 percent of the vote.
It could, however, take more seats in parliament if the fragmentation of the parties means that only a few groups manage to break the 10 percent barrier to win seats. AK is also expected to benefit if, as polls indicate is possible, a large number of voters choose not to vote for any of the parties.
"It's likely the Islamist AK Party will come to power, perhaps overwhelmingly. They might be able to get more than 300 MPs out of the 550," said Hasan Unal, a professor at Ankara's Bilkent University, predicting trouble with the army if that occurs.
On the centre right, former prime ministers Mesut Yilmaz and Tansu Ciller head rival parties -- Motherland and Truth Path Party (DYP) -- that battle for the same votes, while further to the right the MHP is wooing the nationalist vote.
The left is even more divided. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP) has lost half its members to the New Turkey Party (DYP) -- expected to win the patronage of Economy Minister Kemal Dervis. The DSP's long-time rival the Republican People's Party (CHP) appears strong in the polls and is likely to make a comeback from the wilderness.
Dervis, the architect of Turkey's multi-billion dollar IMF reform programme and viewed by markets as the guarantor of stability, recognises the problem of fragmentation.
"Of course our entering elections in such a divided political environment presents some disadvantages," he said, indicating that parties of similar vision could make alliances.
Given the unpopularity of the government parties -- DSP, Motherland and the MHP -- due to economic hardship since last year's financial crisis, Candar said the only party strong enough to challenge AK was the CHP, and then only if the left rallies around it to form a single reformist platform.
Sami Kohen, a columnist at Milliyet newspaper, said the main issues in the campaign would be the economy, as in all elections, and the European Union, which Turkey hopes to join.
Iraq may be used as a campaign tool, he said, particularly by opposition parties who will insist that Turkey not get too involved in any U.S. action against its southern neighbour.
Once in power, however, any government will see that if war breaks out Turkey is better to be involved, on the inside where it may exert some influence, than left out, Kohen said.
"Once you're in power you have to be more responsible."
6. - Turkish Daily News - "Parris summed up Turkish views":
Parris called US to include Turkey as part of Iraq solution
ANKARA / 2 August 2002
U.S. former ambassador to Turkey Mark Parris stated that Turkey
must be a part of the Iraqi solution instead of being a "potential
problem." Parris indicated that this is possible only by "honest,
on time and detailed consultancy." Parris spoke at the Senate house
foreign relations Committee meeting concerning the Iraq issue. Parris
pointed out how Turkey's attitude will be important on toppling Iraqi
president Saddam Hussein: "It is enough to check the map. Then
you will realize that none of the alternatives can be realized without
Turkey," said Parris. Parris added that Turks "hate"
the idea of toppling Hussein.
Turkey does not want to loose again
Parris, summarizing Turkey's reasons for having a negative approach to topple Hussein, indicated that Turkey was the "looser" during the Gulf war suffering from economic, security and strategic issues. Parris reminded that terrorist organization PKK gained strength as well: "Thousands of people died in the 90's. The Turkish army entered northern Iraq to control the situation. Turkey spent a lot of money," Parris said and reminded that Turkey's economic loss was between $40-80 billion. Parris indicated that Turkey experienced the results of a lack of power in northern Iraq as a "de facto Kurdish state" Parris pointed out that Turkey is not happy with the status quo in northern Iraq and stated that Turkey is aware that revision on the status will have positive impacts on the Turkish economy. Parris, indicated that Turkey does not think that the U.S. understands Iraqi domestic realities and that it does not trust the U.S. on the Iraqis territorial integrity and that the U.S. will not protect Turkey's interests as well. "Turkey fears the U.S. will leave everything if things do not go to plan," said Parris.
Turkey does not want to get involved unless Kirkuk is the issue
Parris, indicated that "Turkey does not want to be
involved in an operation but will not have any choice if things develop
against Turkish interests." Parris added, "It is better to
make Turkey part of the solution instead of a potential problem."
Parris added this is possible only by "honest, on time and detailed
consultancy," with Turkey. Parris indicated that Turkey is not
looking forward to controlling Kirkuk and Mosul where there is an important
amount of oil underground. Parris reminding that Turkey is serious on
protecting Iraq's territorial integrity stated that Turkey does not
want to send tanks to Baghdad.