ISTANBUL, Sept 26: Turkey has told the United States it wants to run a large portion of northern Iraq stretching north of Baghdad to Mosul and Sulaymaniyah, if it contributes to a stabilization force for the country, Turkish television said on Friday.
The area, a huge swathe totalling 30,000 square kilometres, would avoid sensitive areas such as Fallujah or Kirkuk through land mostly inhabited by Turkmens and Assyrian Arabs, CNN-Turk reported.
The request from the government comes before a debate by the Turkish parliament over deploying around 10,000 Turkish troops to Iraq.
Washington has been pressing Ankara to deploy troops, but the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hesitated over objections at home.
The proposed zone begins at the conjunction of the Rivers Tigris and Great Zab, south of Mosul, continues to Altun Kubri, on Little Zab, passes between Erbil and Kirkuk, turns south around Kirkuk, skirts Sulaymaniyah and ends at Baghdad.
The government was awaiting US approval of its request by next week, when parliament reconvenes after a long recess and a likely stormy debate over the proposed deployment.
Turkey said this week it continued to consider the US request but denied a decision was tied to an 8.5-billion-dollar loan offer from Washington.
“We made clear we don’t want to be part of an occupation,” said Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. “Iraqi people are unhappy, they want their sovereignty as soon as possible. We want to get there, but for example to get humanitarian aid there. Otherwise, we can’t be helpful.”—AFP
