November 7, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 1,1423

ANKARA, Nov 6: The chief of Turkey’s powerful armed forces was quoted on Wednesday as saying the United States should avoid a war in Iraq, but that differences with Washington over the issue could be ironed out over time.

Chief of General Staff General Hilmi Ozkok was speaking in Washington after elections swept away the political elite the military has long dealt with. Elected in its place is a new party viewed warily by the army for its religious orientation.

“Of course we have anxieties. I can only express our national policy on Iraq, that this business be resolved without a war,” Ozkok was quoted by state-run Anatolian news agency.

“Quite naturally there are differences in our perspectives. This is nothing to be afraid of. In time they can be resolved.”

Poll winner Justice and Development Party (AKP) has not made clear its position on providing airbases for any strike on Iraq.

AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said he hoped the United States would seek a peaceful resolution to end the standoff with Iraq.

“There has been a softening in remarks (by the United States), there is a trend towards peace. We give great importance to taking steps to ensure peace,” Erdogan said during a live interview with NTV television station.

It is extremely unlikely the AKP would try to overrule the military. It is eager to project to the population and secular establishment the image of a modern pro-Western party.

Diplomats in Ankara say the Turkish military has very close links to the United States and, whatever its fears about an influx of refugees from Iraq and about possible economic damage, would almost certainly agree to put bases at US disposal.

Turkey has relied heavily on US support in obtaining multi-billion dollar loans from the IMF to help it out of a long economic crisis. It is pressing Washington for financial guarantees that would help shield the country against the possible effects of a protracted war.

Tourism and trade could be badly hit and oil prices driven up, strangling economic recovery, and interest rates raised, increasing the burden of massive national debt.

AID PACKAGE: The US administration is preparing a major military and economic aid package for Turkey that could top 800 million dollars, according to people involved in the deliberations.

Ozkok, head of a military popularly accepted at home as the ultimate guardian of a secularist democracy on the edge of the Middle East, held talks with US Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top officials for talks on Iraq.

While Ozkok is in Washington, the AKP leadership is consulting on who should be the country’s next prime minister.

Erdogan, a man the military closely identifies with a radical past, cannot join any government because of a past conviction for religious subversion. A new candidate must be found, though Erdogan will remain the force behind the scenes.

On Iraq, Erdogan said Turkey still awaited a U.N. Security Council resolution on weapons inspectors returning and international consensus on how to deal with the Arab state.

Erdogan was cautious when asked on NTV about any friction with the military, which pushed the Welfare Party out of government in 1997.

“There cannot be a situation where we will be confronted by the army. The army is our army. Our army’s strength is a sign that our nation is strong,” he said.

POWELL: US Secretary of State Colin Powell has cancelled a trip to Seoul next week because of his preoccupation with UN Security Council deliberations on Iraq, a State Department official said on Wednesday.

Powell had planned to attend the second ministerial meeting of the Community of Democracies, which takes place in the South Korean capital from Nov 10 to 12.

But Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky will head the U.S. delegation in his place.

Powell was reluctant to go all the way to Korea for such a short time, officials said. He had considered side trips to China and Japan but China is holding a party congress and the Japanese will also have a delegation in Seoul, they added.

Powell’s travel plans have been in doubt all this week, with widespread speculation that the secretary of state, one of the least traveled in decades, was seeking a way out of attending the meeting.—Reuters