Turkey

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2003-03-20 10:21pm

News is talking about Turkey massing forces on their border, possibly preparing to move into northern Iraq. Anyone else think this war could take a nasty turn?

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2003-03-20 10:28pm

Maybe the Turks will use the opportunity to kill Kurds

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-03-20 10:33pm

It seems that the Turkish Parliament has authorized them to seize Mosul. That could cause serious problems.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-03-20 10:38pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:It seems that the Turkish Parliament has authorized them to seize Mosul. That could cause serious problems.

Is it possible the reports of attacks on Mosul are Turkey's aircraft?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-03-20 11:01pm

TrailerParkJawa wrote:
Sea Skimmer wrote:It seems that the Turkish Parliament has authorized them to seize Mosul. That could cause serious problems.
Is it possible the reports of attacks on Mosul are Turkey's aircraft?

Possibul but I think unlikely. If they are, its likely with US approval if not support to avoid blue on blue.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2003-03-20 11:15pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:It seems that the Turkish Parliament has authorized them to seize Mosul. That could cause serious problems.

Especially considering the Administrations adament demand that Iraqi's borders will remain the same after the war has finished. While I believe Turkey is just saying that it is at this moment a defensive posture to stop a flood of refugees. The question becomes now whether or not Turkey will stay after the war is over.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2003-03-21 12:10am

I edited the thread title to fix the spelling.

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2003-03-21 02:17am

Well, the Turks might've planned on this for the whole time, and obstructed the US stationing of troops in Northern Iraq exactly because of that. I wouldn't put it past them....

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-03-21 05:24am

From BBC News -

Turkey fails to open airspace

Turkey has delayed opening its airspace to US aircraft because of disagreements over Turkey's role in northern Iraq, according to reports from Ankara.

The Turkish parliament gave consent for the overflights on Thursday, but overnight talks with US officials left details unresolved.

"We have taken a break in talks with the US because there are snags both concerning airspace use and movement of Turkish troops into Iraq," a foreign ministry official told the AP news agency.

The US does not want Turkish forces to enter Iraq, where there is a risk of clashes with the local Kurdish population.

Turkish press reports say some Turkish units are already there.

The US originally asked Turkey to grant permission for 62,000 troops to use the country as a launchpad for an attack on Iraq.

Turkey would have received a multi-billion-dollar compensation package in return.

US officials say the financial package has now been withdrawn.