TURKEY/US: Turkish Prime Minister Mr Abdullah Gul has called for Muslim and Arab countries to work together to avert a US-led war in Iraq that he feared would have disastrous repercussions for the Middle East.
"We must undertake steps and seize this final chance to avoid a war in which the Iraqi people and all the people of the region will pay the price," Mr Gul said at a press conference in Tehran yesterday.
Grilled about his approving US military inspectors to survey air bases and ports in Turkey that could be used in case of such war, Mr Gull acknowledged his country's difficult position as a top US military ally in the region.
"Each country must prepare for all scenarios and be ready for any eventuality," he said, while alluding to Turkey's reluctance to let US troops pass through its territory to enter Iraq.
Stressing Turkey and Iran's wish to find a peaceful solution to the crisis over Baghdad's alleged secret weapons of mass destruction, Mr Gul said: "If there is a military attack on Iraq, all the countries in the region will suffer."
He did not comment on whether his regional tour - which also took him to Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria - could lead to the sending of an envoy to Baghdad.
"All the countries of the region must co-ordinate their actions to prevent a war, but the principal effort must be made by Iraq," Mr Gul said.
Both Turkey and Iran are alarmed by the prospect of a US-led offensive, notably because it might encourage separatism among their own Kurdish minorities. - (AFP)