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Sunday, 20 April 2003

TURKEY MAY SEND PEACEKEEPERS TO IRAQ

Published in News Digest

By empty (4/20/2003 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Turkey has responded \"positively\" to a U.S. request for peacekeeping troops and experts to help stabilize and rebuild Iraq, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Sunday.
Turkey has responded \"positively\" to a U.S. request for peacekeeping troops and experts to help stabilize and rebuild Iraq, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Sunday. Turkish officials say the Bush administration is seeking assistance in a broad range of areas, from peacekeepers and doctors to experts in communications and infrastructure. Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said Washington was also looking for experts in explosives and nuclear technology. While no formal arrangements have been made yet, Gul said Turkey has verbally agreed to help reconstruct Iraq, its southern neighbor. \"Right now, we look at it positively,\" Gul told private CNN-Turk television. \"A written response will be sent by the beginning of this week.\" The composition of peacekeeping forces in Iraq is not yet clear. Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria and the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have announced plans to send peacekeeping troops. On Saturday, Azerbaijan offered to send 150 peacekeepers to Iraq to help protect Muslim holy sites and the Turkmen minority — priorities for Turkey as well. Azeris. Gul said Turkey was waiting for a more-detailed request from the United States, and implied there was some concern about how the operation would be financed. Turkey, recovering from an economic crisis, has complained about late reimbursement payments for its peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan. \"How their expenses will be met, how they will go and come back, everything should be clarified in writing,\" Gul said. (AP)
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