ANKARA [MENL] -- Turkey's parliament has rejected a government request for
U.S. military deployment.A parliament vote on Saturday failed to obtain an absolute majority for
the deployment of more than 60,000 U.S. troops. The parliamentary leadership
agreed after a closed door session than a simple majority was not enough to
approve the request by the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Gul."What more do you want?" Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the ruling Justice
and Development Party, asked. "It was a completely democratic result. May it
be for the best," Officials said the Gul government had been expected to
sign a draft memorandum with the United States. The memorandum of
understanding was said to have covered the military and political aspects of
a U.S. war against Iraq.Parliament voted to approve the deployment of more than 60,000 U.S.
troops by a vote of 264 to 250. The vote was far closer than expected and
was not according to party lines. Nineteen parliamentarians abstained in the
vote.
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