Who's Online
Guest Users: 21
|
 US: No need for new deal with Turkey on Iraq pullout |
|
|
Thursday, February 26 2009 @ 04:06 PM MSK
|
The process of the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq has already started, the US ambassador to Turkey has said, noting that at the moment there is no need for a new agreement with Turkey for using its territory as an exit route.
An Iraqi-US security pact that took effect Jan. 1 calls for American troops to withdraw from Iraq's cities by June 30 and completely pull out by 2012 -- a timeline that could speed up if President Barack Obama keeps to a campaign promise to have troops out of Iraq within 16 months of taking office.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently said the Pentagon has already examined exit routes through Turkey and Jordan. Both countries, longtime US allies, support the withdrawal planning contingencies, Mullen said.
At the moment there is no need for a new agreement with Turkey for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, US Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey told a small group of journalists late on Tuesday during a reception held to mark African-American History Month.
US withdrawal from Iraq has already started and troop circulation to and from Iraq via Turkey has been going on within the framework of earlier agreements between the US and Turkey, Jeffrey added, noting that the US already has agreements with Kuwait and Jordan for getting its forces and equipment out of Iraq.
In testimony before the US House of Representatives earlier this month, the independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the Pentagon needed to redefine its withdrawal strategy, saying it had not taken into account either the security pact deadline or Obama's possible accelerated timeframe, The Associated Press reported last week.
The biggest obstacle is the question of how to move tens of thousands of personnel and millions of tons of equipment out of Iraq, according to testimony by a GAO managing director, the AP report said. It recommended looking at multiple routes through Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey, where the US has already constructed bridge overpasses for heavy tanks on the road between the Iraqi border and the Mediterranean ports of İskenderun and Mersin.
When asked whether the transport of heavy and lethal weapons from Iraq to US via Turkey might come on the agenda, Jeffrey replied that if such a situation occurs and necessitates making a new agreement with Turkey, then they would discuss the issue with Ankara.
Jeffrey also firmly denied recent news reports suggesting that Washington might look at setting up a military base in the Black Sea city of Trabzon to support NATO operations in nearby Afghanistan and as an alternative to a Kyrgyz base that is due to close later this year.
Referring to a planned visit to Ankara by George Mitchell, US special envoy for the Middle East, Jeffrey praised Turkey's efforts in the Middle East, saying that it has been playing a "key role."
During a courtesy visit to Turkey's chief negotiator for European Union talks, Egemen Bağış, on Tuesday, Jeffrey reaffirmed the US's support for Turkey's EU membership.
|
|
|
|
|