Turkey is making military and political preparations for a possible US operation against its southern neighbor Iraq, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said this evening.
"The US administration is openly saying that it is thinking about a military operation against Iraq. This is not a secret," Ecevit told ATV television.
"If a military operation takes place... this will inevitably affect Turkey... And we are making our military and political preparations accordingly," Ecevit said.
He was speaking after a series of meetings earlier today with Turkey's army chief, the president and the ministers of defense and foreign affairs.
The US ambassador to Turkey also held talks with Turkish diplomats.
Ecevit denied the meetings signalled an "extraordinary" situation.
"There is nothing extraordinary at the moment, but we have to act very carefully," he said.
Turkey, a NATO ally hosting an US air base, is opposed to military moves against Iraq fearing economic and political consequences at a time when it is grappling with an economic, financial and government crisis and is heading towards early elections in November.
"Our economy, which has just started to revive, will experience another serious shake-up" if a regional turmoil erupts, Ecevit said.
"That is why we are trying to dissuade the US administration from a military operation and we are trying to explain them that we will seriously contribute to peace in Iraq... without a need for such a military operation," he added.
AFP
