ANKARA [MENL] -- The United States and Turkey are clearly allies. But Ankara
and Washington have very different perceptions of Iraq.The Bush administration sees Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as the
biggest enemy after Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden. Many in the
administration suspect a link between Saddam and Bin Laden in the Sept. 11
Islamic suicide attacks on New York and Washington.The result is that President George Bush and senior Pentagon officials
are exploring the prospect of an attack on Baghdad. Washington has discussed
this prospect with Turkey.But this is the last thing Ankara needs. Turkish officials don't
like Saddam but they see his overthrow as a recipe for chaos in the region
and the emergence of an unstable and threatening Kurdish state in northern
Iraq.On Tuesday, Turkish security forces were reported to have killed four
Kurdish insurgents in southeastern Turkey.Officials said Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has relayed this
concern to the White House. Ecevit is willing to help the United States keep
the Saddam regime weak, but he is opposed to an attack that would overthrow
the Iraqi ruler and end up dividing the country."Ankara believes that Iraq can only protect its territorial integrity
with an authoritarian regime," former Turkish ambassador Sukru Elekdag said,
"and an operation which would result in overthrowing Saddam will lead to a
division of the counry in three parts and the foundation of a Kurdish state
in the north would be inevitable."
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