Turkey looks positively to U.S. pullout from Iraq

ANKARA. March 5. KAZINFORM. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that Turkey looks positively to a U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq.

Erdogan told private TV channel 24 early Thursday that "the people of Iraq desire the withdrawal of U.S. troops" and "it is important for Turkey to approach this issue from a positive perspective." On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said that "the U.S. made no request to use Turkish ports or bases while withdrawing its forces from the neighboring Iraq," adding if a request comes from Washington, Turkey's approach to the issue would be positive. The semi-official Anatolia news agency has reported that such a demand might be made when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Turkey on March 7. If the U.S. decides to use Turkey as an exit route, approval of the parliament would be required, said the report; Kazinform cites Xinhua. In March 2003, the Turkish parliament had rejected to allow U.S. troops to launch their invasion of Iraq from Turkish territory.