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CNN Live At Daybreak

Tension in Turkey

Aired February 27, 2003 - 06:08   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about Turkey now. U.S. troops continue to wait for the Turkish parliament to decide if they can come ashore in Turkey.
Our Jane Arraf is in Incirlik with the latest.

And, Jane, I hear there are signs of tension there. What are they?

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: There are, Carol, signs of tension along the border with Iraq and between Turkey and Iraq. Now, those are indicated by Turkey recommending that all of its citizens leave Iraq.

Yesterday, it announced it was essentially shutting down its embassy, although it doesn't call it that, withdrawing its diplomats and leaving a skeleton staff in advance of this vote, which could authorize 62,000 U.S. combat troops to be stationed in Turkey for an attack on Iraq.

Now, we are here actually directly on the flight path of fighter planes going into the Incirlik Air Base. This is the biggest permanent air base that the U.S. has in or around the Middle East. Right now, there are about 50 planes stationed here. We might be seeing a few of them, F-15s and F-16s, flying over us in a few seconds.

To give you a size of the troops and the numbers that the U.S. wants to bring in, they are asking for approval for 255 more fighter planes.

So, altogether a huge number, a huge thing to get through parliament if it votes today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And I was just looking behind you, Jane. It just seems like you're standing in the middle of farmland, and people are just passing by, sauntering, at peace with the day.

ARRAF: It does look very peaceful. That's the deceptive thing.

This morning, we were actually on the base, where they're very busy making preparations for what might come. They have a hospital there built to withstand very intense blasts; that's capable of dealing with chemical and biological injuries.

And the air control tower, a fascinating thing. This is the tower that controls all of the military planes, all of the fighter jets that actually go over northern Iraq -- British and American. And it would certainly be much busier if war does break out and if Turkey does get involved in some way in this war -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jane Arraf reporting live Incirlik at the air base in Turkey.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired February 27, 2003 - 06:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about Turkey now. U.S. troops continue to wait for the Turkish parliament to decide if they can come ashore in Turkey.
Our Jane Arraf is in Incirlik with the latest.

And, Jane, I hear there are signs of tension there. What are they?

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: There are, Carol, signs of tension along the border with Iraq and between Turkey and Iraq. Now, those are indicated by Turkey recommending that all of its citizens leave Iraq.

Yesterday, it announced it was essentially shutting down its embassy, although it doesn't call it that, withdrawing its diplomats and leaving a skeleton staff in advance of this vote, which could authorize 62,000 U.S. combat troops to be stationed in Turkey for an attack on Iraq.

Now, we are here actually directly on the flight path of fighter planes going into the Incirlik Air Base. This is the biggest permanent air base that the U.S. has in or around the Middle East. Right now, there are about 50 planes stationed here. We might be seeing a few of them, F-15s and F-16s, flying over us in a few seconds.

To give you a size of the troops and the numbers that the U.S. wants to bring in, they are asking for approval for 255 more fighter planes.

So, altogether a huge number, a huge thing to get through parliament if it votes today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And I was just looking behind you, Jane. It just seems like you're standing in the middle of farmland, and people are just passing by, sauntering, at peace with the day.

ARRAF: It does look very peaceful. That's the deceptive thing.

This morning, we were actually on the base, where they're very busy making preparations for what might come. They have a hospital there built to withstand very intense blasts; that's capable of dealing with chemical and biological injuries.

And the air control tower, a fascinating thing. This is the tower that controls all of the military planes, all of the fighter jets that actually go over northern Iraq -- British and American. And it would certainly be much busier if war does break out and if Turkey does get involved in some way in this war -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jane Arraf reporting live Incirlik at the air base in Turkey.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.