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CNN Live Today
The Turkish Vote
Aired March 03, 2003 - 11:15 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Turkish lawmakers are thinking about holding a second vote on U.S. troops. The first vote fell three short and left Washington without its best option for a northern front in a war with Iraq. Our Jane Arraf is following these developments. Let's go down to her. She's standing by in the Turkish capital of Ankara this morning.
Hello, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.
Well, Turkey's government is scrambling to figure out what to do after that surprise vote on Saturday. The prime minister has been meeting with cabinet, he's been seeing the president, and the ruling Justice and Development Party has been holding its own meetings to decide whether to ask parliament again.
Now, here in the streets, the feeling is mixed, to say the least. People are really quite proud that parliament took the decision that it did. They say this shows the United States that this was not about money, that Turkey could not be bought. At the same time, they're grappling this morning with a stock market that has plunged and with a currency that's dropped as well.
Now, the U.S. has put Turkey on notice that it may have to go to what it calls plan b if they don't do a second parliament vote, and that plan b would be a much less preferable option than the one they have now, which is to use a range of Turkish bases along the border with Iraq, including the Interleague (ph) Airbase, in which they would send out a northern front that would basically launch a two-pronged attack.
What that would do, one of the main things it would do, would be to secure those northern oil fields near Mosala (ph) and Karatook (ph). Anything else but using those Turkish bases would be a far less preferable option -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well, Jane, is it clear at all what might likely be the solution here? Because the picture there in Turkey is so mixed. You got a population and parliament that is so dead set against all of this. And yet the markets, as I understand this, when the vote came down over the weekend, the markets in turkey tanked, and that's got a lot of people concerned about the economy there.
ARRAF: It certainly does. And it's an amazing thing, really, that parliament actually took this decision, because making this decision means essentially that a war could happen anyway, and they would be left without the U.S. Aid that could cushion their economic losses.
Now, if they go to a second vote in parliament, that's a really tricky thing as well, because parliament has said that it's speaking for the people.
But in terms of what the people want, they essentially want two things. They don't want a war to happen. They want to send a message to the U.S., but some people are saying, now that they've sent the message to the U.S., perhaps it's time to reconsider, take that vote again, and vote that Turkey should be involved in this war if it's going to happen anyway -- Leon.
HARRIS: And they also might want to take that money before it gets taken off the table, too. Thanks, Jane. Jane Arraf, reporting live to us from Ankara.
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Aired March 3, 2003 - 11:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Turkish lawmakers are thinking about holding a second vote on U.S. troops. The first vote fell three short and left Washington without its best option for a northern front in a war with Iraq. Our Jane Arraf is following these developments. Let's go down to her. She's standing by in the Turkish capital of Ankara this morning.
Hello, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.
Well, Turkey's government is scrambling to figure out what to do after that surprise vote on Saturday. The prime minister has been meeting with cabinet, he's been seeing the president, and the ruling Justice and Development Party has been holding its own meetings to decide whether to ask parliament again.
Now, here in the streets, the feeling is mixed, to say the least. People are really quite proud that parliament took the decision that it did. They say this shows the United States that this was not about money, that Turkey could not be bought. At the same time, they're grappling this morning with a stock market that has plunged and with a currency that's dropped as well.
Now, the U.S. has put Turkey on notice that it may have to go to what it calls plan b if they don't do a second parliament vote, and that plan b would be a much less preferable option than the one they have now, which is to use a range of Turkish bases along the border with Iraq, including the Interleague (ph) Airbase, in which they would send out a northern front that would basically launch a two-pronged attack.
What that would do, one of the main things it would do, would be to secure those northern oil fields near Mosala (ph) and Karatook (ph). Anything else but using those Turkish bases would be a far less preferable option -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well, Jane, is it clear at all what might likely be the solution here? Because the picture there in Turkey is so mixed. You got a population and parliament that is so dead set against all of this. And yet the markets, as I understand this, when the vote came down over the weekend, the markets in turkey tanked, and that's got a lot of people concerned about the economy there.
ARRAF: It certainly does. And it's an amazing thing, really, that parliament actually took this decision, because making this decision means essentially that a war could happen anyway, and they would be left without the U.S. Aid that could cushion their economic losses.
Now, if they go to a second vote in parliament, that's a really tricky thing as well, because parliament has said that it's speaking for the people.
But in terms of what the people want, they essentially want two things. They don't want a war to happen. They want to send a message to the U.S., but some people are saying, now that they've sent the message to the U.S., perhaps it's time to reconsider, take that vote again, and vote that Turkey should be involved in this war if it's going to happen anyway -- Leon.
HARRIS: And they also might want to take that money before it gets taken off the table, too. Thanks, Jane. Jane Arraf, reporting live to us from Ankara.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
