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American Morning

Turkish Troops

Aired October 08, 2003 - 07:18   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Responding to a request from the U.S., Turkey's parliament has agreed to send troops into neighboring Iraq, but Iraq's Governing Council is concerned that Turkey's offer to help keep the peace may just be a land grab.
Joining us from Washington to talk about Iraq's reluctance to accept Turkish troops is CNN analyst Ken Pollack from the Saban Center at Brookings Institution.

Nice to see you, Ken, as always. Thanks for joining us.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Sure, Soledad. Good to see you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

Turkey has said yes, maybe as many as 10,000 troops. How significant is this?

POLLACK: Well, it's very important for the White House. First, U.S. commanders are making it clear that they need more troops. We just don't have enough troops yet to get full control of the security situation there, and 10,000 troops from Turkey is a significant amount of assistance.

In addition, remember, Turkey is a NATO ally. It's important that we're seeing a NATO ally come forward and provide this number of troops. Hopefully, that may get other NATO allies to contribute. And Turkey is also an Islamic country, and so it's also very important for the administration to show that an Islamic nation is coming forward providing significant numbers of troops. Hopefully that will get other Islamist countries to contribute.

O'BRIEN: But seven months ago, the Turkish assembly said no to U.S. troops invading Iraq from inside of Turkey. So why the change now? Is it basically based on the fact that it's peacekeepers, or has there been a change in the thought process there?

POLLACK: Well, I think both are really at work here, Soledad. First, on the one hand, you're right. This is a difference between actually going to war and providing peacekeepers. And I think that's that part of it for the Turks.

But I think overall, the bigger issue is that at the time Turkey was, at best, ambivalent about the war. In fact, most Turks opposed the war. They felt that a war in Iraq could very much destabilize their own situation on their southeastern border where the Kurds are located. They were very fearful of that. But now that the war is over, they kind of recognize that the situation in Iraq is unfolding, and they want to have some way of influencing it, some way of assuring their interests in Iraq, and sending troops there is a good way to do that for them.

O'BRIEN: The Iraqi Governing Council says no troops, and certainly not from neighboring countries without any exceptions. So, it's going to be a huge problem, as you say. On one hand, of course, this is a step forward, but the Iraqi Governing Council obviously sees it as a major step back, with legitimate concerns, right?

POLLACK: Well, the Iraqi Governing Council does have some legitimate concerns, as you're suggesting. The Turks do have a habit of meddling in northern Iraq. They've been doing it for a very long time. And they are not shy about making clear what their interests are in northern Iraq, and their interests in northern Iraq don't always necessarily mesh with what the Iraqi people may want.

And so, there is real concern that the Turks will use this presence inside of Iraq to create facts on the ground, to influence the course of Iraqi reconstruction, to make changes in Iraq's political situation as it develops over time, all things that they see as foreign interference in their own reconstruction which would be bad in and of itself.

And it could also set a precedent, because if you've got the Turks in there doing this, why not the Saudis? Why can't the Iranians have a say? And you might be opening up a real Pandora's Box for the Iraqis in terms of interference from all of their neighbors.

O'BRIEN: All right, Ken Pollack, as always, thanks for that. Appreciate your insight.

POLLACK: Anytime, Soledad. Good to see.

O'BRIEN: Likewise.

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 October 8, 2003 - 07:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Responding to a request from the U.S., Turkey's parliament has agreed to send troops into neighboring Iraq, but Iraq's Governing Council is concerned that Turkey's offer to help keep the peace may just be a land grab.
Joining us from Washington to talk about Iraq's reluctance to accept Turkish troops is CNN analyst Ken Pollack from the Saban Center at Brookings Institution.

Nice to see you, Ken, as always. Thanks for joining us.

KEN POLLACK, CNN ANALYST: Sure, Soledad. Good to see you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

Turkey has said yes, maybe as many as 10,000 troops. How significant is this?

POLLACK: Well, it's very important for the White House. First, U.S. commanders are making it clear that they need more troops. We just don't have enough troops yet to get full control of the security situation there, and 10,000 troops from Turkey is a significant amount of assistance.

In addition, remember, Turkey is a NATO ally. It's important that we're seeing a NATO ally come forward and provide this number of troops. Hopefully, that may get other NATO allies to contribute. And Turkey is also an Islamic country, and so it's also very important for the administration to show that an Islamic nation is coming forward providing significant numbers of troops. Hopefully that will get other Islamist countries to contribute.

O'BRIEN: But seven months ago, the Turkish assembly said no to U.S. troops invading Iraq from inside of Turkey. So why the change now? Is it basically based on the fact that it's peacekeepers, or has there been a change in the thought process there?

POLLACK: Well, I think both are really at work here, Soledad. First, on the one hand, you're right. This is a difference between actually going to war and providing peacekeepers. And I think that's that part of it for the Turks.

But I think overall, the bigger issue is that at the time Turkey was, at best, ambivalent about the war. In fact, most Turks opposed the war. They felt that a war in Iraq could very much destabilize their own situation on their southeastern border where the Kurds are located. They were very fearful of that. But now that the war is over, they kind of recognize that the situation in Iraq is unfolding, and they want to have some way of influencing it, some way of assuring their interests in Iraq, and sending troops there is a good way to do that for them.

O'BRIEN: The Iraqi Governing Council says no troops, and certainly not from neighboring countries without any exceptions. So, it's going to be a huge problem, as you say. On one hand, of course, this is a step forward, but the Iraqi Governing Council obviously sees it as a major step back, with legitimate concerns, right?

POLLACK: Well, the Iraqi Governing Council does have some legitimate concerns, as you're suggesting. The Turks do have a habit of meddling in northern Iraq. They've been doing it for a very long time. And they are not shy about making clear what their interests are in northern Iraq, and their interests in northern Iraq don't always necessarily mesh with what the Iraqi people may want.

And so, there is real concern that the Turks will use this presence inside of Iraq to create facts on the ground, to influence the course of Iraqi reconstruction, to make changes in Iraq's political situation as it develops over time, all things that they see as foreign interference in their own reconstruction which would be bad in and of itself.

And it could also set a precedent, because if you've got the Turks in there doing this, why not the Saudis? Why can't the Iranians have a say? And you might be opening up a real Pandora's Box for the Iraqis in terms of interference from all of their neighbors.

O'BRIEN: All right, Ken Pollack, as always, thanks for that. Appreciate your insight.

POLLACK: Anytime, Soledad. Good to see.

O'BRIEN: Likewise.

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