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CNN Live Sunday
Election in Turkey Might Affect U.S. Invasion of Iraq
Aired March 09, 2003 - 15:08 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A crucial vote in Turkey today could end up affecting how the U.S. might conduct an invasion of Iraq. The special election has set the stage for a new prime minister to take power. Tayyip Erdogan could become prime minister as soon as next week. He supports a U.S. bid to base some of the 60,000 troops in Turkey. Turkey's parliament rejected the bid last week, but Erdogan is expected to oust government officials opposed to the deployment and call for a new vote.
As you see here, some U.S. troops are already in Turkey, and our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre can tell us why. He joins us live from the Pentagon -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, those are part of the advanced party that were put ashore back when the United States was pretty confident it was going to get permission from Turkey. Now, the U.S. is still in consultations with the Turkish government on a daily basis about the possibility of permission, but privately, Pentagon officials admit that Turkey has basically been written out of the war plan. They're not counting on it at this point, and they're not really pressing very hard, officials say, to try to get that permission granted at this late hour. They have pretty much gone ahead with plan B.
That said, if there's a change of government, and there's a possibility of getting permission, there are some small constructive things the U.S. still wants, primarily they would like overflight rights for U.S. aircraft based on two aircraft carriers now in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Originally, they were going to be given permission to fly over Turkey and into Iraq from a northern route. But once this overflight got wrapped up into a package deal that was rejected by the U.S. (sic) parliament, they haven't had that option. That's one thing.
They would also like to put some special forces on the ground, and they might eventually move the 4th Infantry Division into Turkey. But at this time, they might serve as more of a follow-on force because of the time it would take to move all of their equipment, unload it and move the troops from Texas into place.
So at this point, the U.S. is still not counting on Turkey. But they say if there's a change of heart with a change of government in Turkey, the U.S. will be prepared to take advantage of it to beef up the war plan -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So, Jamie, if they don't get that flyover approval, then what happens to those two carriers? It seems like it may be a little too late in the game to actually move them?
MCINTYRE: Well, there are two options. One is they've discussed with Israel and Jordan the possibility of flying over those countries, but that's seen as politically explosive. So the real plan B there is to basically take about a day or so to move the carriers through the Suez Canal into the northern Red Sea and essentially fly over Saudi Arabia. That's only a little bit longer route, and the U.S. Navy says that would not be a problem if they had to take that route.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jamie, from the Pentagon. Thank you very much.
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 March 9, 2003 - 15:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A crucial vote in Turkey today could end up affecting how the U.S. might conduct an invasion of Iraq. The special election has set the stage for a new prime minister to take power. Tayyip Erdogan could become prime minister as soon as next week. He supports a U.S. bid to base some of the 60,000 troops in Turkey. Turkey's parliament rejected the bid last week, but Erdogan is expected to oust government officials opposed to the deployment and call for a new vote.
As you see here, some U.S. troops are already in Turkey, and our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre can tell us why. He joins us live from the Pentagon -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, those are part of the advanced party that were put ashore back when the United States was pretty confident it was going to get permission from Turkey. Now, the U.S. is still in consultations with the Turkish government on a daily basis about the possibility of permission, but privately, Pentagon officials admit that Turkey has basically been written out of the war plan. They're not counting on it at this point, and they're not really pressing very hard, officials say, to try to get that permission granted at this late hour. They have pretty much gone ahead with plan B.
That said, if there's a change of government, and there's a possibility of getting permission, there are some small constructive things the U.S. still wants, primarily they would like overflight rights for U.S. aircraft based on two aircraft carriers now in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Originally, they were going to be given permission to fly over Turkey and into Iraq from a northern route. But once this overflight got wrapped up into a package deal that was rejected by the U.S. (sic) parliament, they haven't had that option. That's one thing.
They would also like to put some special forces on the ground, and they might eventually move the 4th Infantry Division into Turkey. But at this time, they might serve as more of a follow-on force because of the time it would take to move all of their equipment, unload it and move the troops from Texas into place.
So at this point, the U.S. is still not counting on Turkey. But they say if there's a change of heart with a change of government in Turkey, the U.S. will be prepared to take advantage of it to beef up the war plan -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So, Jamie, if they don't get that flyover approval, then what happens to those two carriers? It seems like it may be a little too late in the game to actually move them?
MCINTYRE: Well, there are two options. One is they've discussed with Israel and Jordan the possibility of flying over those countries, but that's seen as politically explosive. So the real plan B there is to basically take about a day or so to move the carriers through the Suez Canal into the northern Red Sea and essentially fly over Saudi Arabia. That's only a little bit longer route, and the U.S. Navy says that would not be a problem if they had to take that route.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jamie, from the Pentagon. Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
