January 23, 2003	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 19, 1423

ANKARA, Jan 22: Turkish parliament speaker Bulent Arinc said on Wednesday he had turned down an invitation from US ambassador Robert Pearson to discuss the crisis in Iraq at his Ankara home, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Arinc said he had refused the offer because Pearson had failed to pay him a courtesy call when he was appointed as speaker last November.

“A Turkish parliament speaker will not attend an ambassador’s lunch if the latter has not first paid him a visit,” the report quoted Arinc as saying.

Turkish media reported that the heads of the parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committees declined similar invitations from Pearson, arguing that it was up to the ambassador to make the trip into parliament.

Last week, several Turkish deputies had travelled to meet Pearson at his home, sparking a chorus of media criticism.

Washington is seeking both military and logistic support from Ankara in a possible war against Iraq, but the government has said it will not clarify its position until the UN Security Council adopts a second resolution authorising military action against Baghdad.

Turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO, opposes military strikes against its southeastern neighbour, fearing both economic and political fallout from a war.

It has invited the leaders of Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria to a meeting in Istanbul this week to explore ways to resolve the crisis over Iraq without resorting to war.

—AFP