TURKEY: Turkey resisted further pressure form the US yesterday to allow US troops use its territory as a base for possible strikes on Iraq, insisting on a guarantee of multi-billion-dollar aid in return for its support.
But a decision may be close as Turkish Prime Minister Mr Abdullah Gul said yesterday he would make a statement today regarding US troop deployment in talks with Washington. "We will inform you of the latest developments on the parliament motion tomorrow \," Mr Gul said.
As Ankara expressed dissatisfaction with the terms and size of a package of up to $24 billion proposed by Washington, US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell said the package was their final offer.
"I expect to hear back from them before the day is out," Mr Powell said in Washington.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mr Yasar Yakis retorted immediately.
"There is no reply to go today," he said, according to Anatolia news agency.
"We are trying to stand firm against the United States," Mr Yakis said, adding that financial aid was only one aspect in the talks, which also include political and military discussions.
The standoff between the two NATO allies has prompted US officials to admit that they might be forced to alter their operational plans on Iraq.
"They have told us that they place importance on opening a front from the north and we are aware of that . . . Everybody can see that giving up the northern front will have a serious cost for the United States," Mr Yakis said.
Washington has offered Ankara a six-billion-dollar grant, part of which could be used to obtain long-term commercial loans of up to $24 billion, to offset the damage of any war on the already crisis-hit Turkish economy, according to the head of Turkey's ruling party, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"We have found the figures insufficient and we are not looking favourably at the offer," Economy Minister Mr Ali Babacan said..
Mr Powell made it clear that Washington was not intending to up its offer.
"I reaffirmed to them yesterday morning in a phone call to the prime minister that our position was firm with respect to the kind of assistance we could provide - with respect to the level.
"There may be some other creative things we can do," he said.
The spat has led the Ankara government to hold up a parliamentary vote on allowing the US to deploy combat troops in Turkey.
Meanwhile, Turkey's powerful armed forces have urged the government to reimpose emergency rule in the south-east of the country in the event of a US-led war against neighbouring Iraq.
Although the proposal has been rejected by the reformist government, it demonstrates the domestic headaches Turkey could face in a war to topple Saddam Hussein.
Military leader Gen Yasar Buyukyanit proposed reintroducing emergency rule with restricted individual rights and increased powers for security forces in six Kurdish-dominated provinces near the Iraqi border.
The request stems from the military's fear that Kurdish separatists would seek to take advantage of a war next door. But reimposing emergency rule just months after it was lifted would cause an outcry in reformist circles at home and within the EU, which has applauded sweeping human rights reforms adopted by the recently elected Justice and Development party.
Mr Gul has vowed that regardless of any war, the new government will not be deflected from moves to align Turkey with the EU's criteria for starting membership talks.
But the military are still sufficiently influential and public opinion is so bitter about Kurdish "terrorists" that any provocation could be seized on to put pressure on the government to backtrack.