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| Axis of Evil |
| Turkish Press Reports |
| 2003-01-22 |
| These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on January 22, 2003. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. The U.S. which could not get a positive response from Turkey regarding the opening of a northern front, decided to make the south of Iraq as the ''main centre'' and the north of Iraq as the ''support centre.'' Turkey conveyed its wish to the U.S. that it wanted to ensure control in a circle of 70 kilometers starting from the 12th kilometer of the Iraqi border to the west. The control of the region carries great importance as the terrorist organization PKK can benefit from the chaotic atmosphere that can come out in the region. It is also important in order to decrease the risk of formation of a Kurdish state. U.S. officials at Incirlik Base opened a tender for bunks and beds. Around 4,000 bunks and 8,000 mattresses will be bought for soldiers who are planned to be deployed at the air base in a possible operation against Iraq. U.S. officials want 120x197 cm bunks althought Turkish bunks are 90x120 cm. A total of 34 companies submitted bids for the tender. I think bunks means bunk beds, double deckers. The 8000 mattresses part seems to back that up. Somebody at Incirlik needs a place for 8000 extra troops to sleep. Ain't logistics grand? The U.S. Ambassador in Ankara Robert Pearson continues his tours to take Turkey's pulse in the case of a possible U.S. operation against Iraq. Pearson will come to the Parliament on January 27 and give briefing to the Parliament about Iraq. That's the date of the UN briefing on the status of the inspections and one day before the State of the Union speech. Wonder what he's going to say? Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis has said that Turkey could accept deployment of 15,000 U.S. soldiers and noted, ''we gave authority to military officials to discuss the issue. They are discussing the number of soldiers who could be deployed for northern front.'' Yakis noted, ''military officials will hold talks with the U.S. side at the military level to reach an agreement on the specific number of troops that the two sides can accept.'' Foreign Minister Yasar YakÃœs said that the military is authorized to discuss cooperation regarding the Iraqi issue with the U.S. Responding to questions of journalists while leaving the Foreign Ministry, YakÃœs said that ''the military officials of the two countries will determine the level of cooperation between the two countries which won't make the northern alternative meaningless.'' YakÃœs also denied the news published in New York Times newspaper claiming that he said Turkey permitted the use of bases. Note that the civilian government is letting the Turkish military deal directly with the US on troop levels. "Northern alternative meaningless"? Northern front, perhaps? Doesn't want it to be reduced to meaningless, does he? U.S. Embassy in Ankara said that allegations that U.S. officials have had contact with representatives of the terrorist organization PKK are false. U.S. Embassy said in a statement that a recent report in Turkish press alleged that U.S. officials have had contacts with representatives of the terrorist organization PKK and added that these claims are completely false. The statement said that U.S. officials have no contact with the PKK or KADEK and noted that both the PKK and KADEK are designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government. Quick denial here. While the CIA may have talked with some Kurds who may have some relation with the PKK/KADEK, I doubt there have been direct talks. Syrian, Jordanian, Egyptian, Saudi Arabian and Iranian foreign ministers will come together in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday for a peaceful solution of the Iraqi problem. Gul persuaded the Syrian leader on condition that the second summit will take place in Damascus, Syria. British Chief of General Staff and German Foreign Minister will also come to Turkey the same day. Prime Minister Gul will attend the meeting in Istanbul as the host prime minister. "Blah, blah, peace, blah, stability in region, blah, oil, blah." |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 If the bunk beds are designed right, the bed frames (4' x 6.7') could be hooked together in a modular arrangement to provide go-anywhere cage systems for housing terrorists. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-01-22 16:21:34 |
| #3 In re Angie's post. Maybe they are expecting not to sleep alone. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2003-01-22 15:17:12 |
| #2 Could this be code for something? 4' x 6.7' is rather large for a single-person bunk. A double bed is just over 4' wide and about 6' long. I've never seen an army bunk as large as a full size bed. I suppose Turks might like to sleep in the fetal position, but it doesn't explain these huge American bunks. Hmm. Maybe this is petty, but I performed vital scientific experiments by laying down on the bed, so I figure I should report the results. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2003-01-22 11:07:47 |
| #1 I don't want to be bogged down in minutae when we are discussing the grand strategy, but I hope that this was a typo: "U.S. officials want 120x197 cm bunks althought Turkish bunks are 90x120 cm. " This means that the US wants 4' x 6.7' or so bunks while the Turks stock 3' x 4' units? No wonder that we were having such a problem negotiating with the Turks. Try getting a good nights sleep on a 3 x 4. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-01-22 10:45:55 |