Belgium: Turkish EU membership 'unthinkable' with Iraq invasion

Monday March 24, 2003 18:04

by javier

EU leaders called last week for the territorial integrity of Iraq to be respected. An invasion by Turkey in Iraq could threaten Ankara's hopes of joining the European Union. The Belgian foreign minister Louis Michel demanded pressure to be put on Turkey to stop it carrying out such an action.

Speaking to RTL-TVi, Mr Michel said "it is unthinkable that Turkey becomes a member of the EU, if it invades Kurdistan."

The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana also expressed strong views on Turkish troops in Iraq. In an interview with Die Welt, he says:

"One thing the 15 EU governments particularly stressed about these support measures was that the territorial integrity of Iraq must not be called into question. We made this very very clear to our Turkish friends,"

A reference to Iraq's territorial integrity is made in last week's Spring Council conclusions.

The comments by Belgium and Mr Solana come after Turkey told media that an unspecified number of soldiers had crossed the borders on Friday night.

The US was reportedly furious about Turkey's actions as they fear that it could lead to a war within a war, with Turkey clashing with the Kurds. The US has already enlisted the help of the Kurds in its fight against Saddam Hussein.

Speaking on Sunday US President George W. Bush said: "We've got more troops up north, and we're making it very clear to the Turks that we expect them not to come into northern Iraq."

For its part, Turkey says it is concerned only about stemming the refugee flows and national security.

According to the Financial Times, Turkey's military leadership later said the reports "do not reflect reality" after Germany threatened the withdrawal of German soldiers from Awacs aircraft defending Turkish airspace if Turkey became "a part of the war."

The NATO defence guarantee for Turkey came about after weeks of internal wrangling within the 19-member organisation.

The guarantee includes Awacs aircraft, Patriot defence missiles and anti-chemical and biological units in case of attack by Iraq.

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Conclusions Spring European Council 2003