ANKARA: Turkey became the first predominantly Muslim country on Thursday to commit troops to the war in Afghan-istan, saying it would send about 90 elite troops in respo-nse to a US request. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said it would be “unthinkable for Turkey to stand back in the war against terrorism,” and that the troops would be sent to northern Afghanistan as soon as possible.

Ecevit emphasized that the troops’ primary role would be to help train forces of the Northern Alliance, the opposition coalition which is fighting the Taliban, as well as to offer humanitarian assistance. However, he did not rule out the possibility that Turkish troops would see combat.

“Our hope is that Turkish soldiers take part (only) in training and humanitarian aid operations,” he said. But he added that, “We may be faced with unknown and unwanted situations.”

Western military analysts say Turkey’s 15 years of experience fighting a Kurdish insurgency in the harsh mountain terrain of southeastern Turkey and Kurd-ish-controlled northern Iraq could prove valuable against the Taliban. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said entry of the Turkish forces would send a “message to everyone this is not a war against Islam,” but against terrorism.

In Islamabad, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, vowed to retaliate. “Any soldiers from any Muslim countries, or from non-Muslim countries, if they are joining with American soldiers, they are our enemy. We will strike back,” he told a news conference.

Turkey, NATO’s only member country with a Muslim majority, opened its skies and bases to US warplanes soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying it was fully behind the US-led campaign against global terrorism. Ecevit said Turkish troops would coordinate closely with US and British forces, and stressed that the anti-Taliban offensive would not be stopped during Ramazan.

Turkey, which has close intelligence links with some Northern Alliance factions, says it will also help forge a new broad-based administration in case the Taliban falls. Officially secular Turkey has refused to recognize the Taliban government and is strongly opposed to its presence in any future Afghan government.

“Turkey’s military engagement will also bolster America’s image in the Muslim world, in that sense it is crucial,” said Hasan Koni, a political science lecturer at Ankara University and an adviser to Turkey’s National Security Council.

However, Turkey is disdained by the more religious elements of the Northern Alliance and many other Muslims for its close ties to the United States and Israel, and for repressing its own domestic Islamic movement. —Dawn/LAT-WP (c) Los Angeles Times