Turkish vote for troops hinges on US assurances

The new Turkish government will press for fresh US assurances about the stability of a post-Saddam Iraq before Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister-elect, resubmits proposals to parliament to allow in 62,000 American troops.

Mr Erdogan was sworn in as an MP yesterday and formally asked to form a government after his ally Abdullah Gul stood down as Prime Minister to make way for him. Mr Erdogan is making it clear to Washington that it will need to improve the assurances it offered before parliamentarians refused 11 days ago the US request to open a northern front from south-eastern Turkey.

Mr Erdogan is likely to discuss the Turkish concerns with Zalmay Khalilzad, President George Bush's envoy to the Iraqi opposition, when he visits Ankara this week. The trip could be a prelude to the re-opening of formal negotiations with Washington.

Turkey, which has indicated it may send up to 40,000 troops into northern Iraq in the wake of US forces, in part to prevent a refugee crisis if Iraqi Kurds flee towards its borders, has been seeking a US promise that it will not allow a separate Kurdish state to be formed in a post-war Iraq. It fears such a move would provoke similar demands by Kurds in south-eastern Turkey.

Senior Turkish officials say their concerns about the future of a post-war Iraq also extend to ethnic conflict and a possible Yugoslavia-style break-up of the country, which it has every interest in seeing return to its pre-1991 status as Turkey's primary trading partner in the region.

"We know from the Balkans that when one part goes, the others follow," one official said yesterday. Other officials say Turkey would not oppose a measure of Kurdish autonomy in a federal Iraqi structure provided it was agreed by Iraq's population as a whole.

Mr Erdogan has said he wants to see a second UN resolution before asking parliament to reverse its decision. Article 92 of the Turkish constitution requires "international legitimacy" for foreign troops stationed on its soil.

Mr Gul, who is expected to be given another top job in government, said at his farewell prime ministerial news conference: "As soon as the government is formed, I am sure they will review the issue in the best way and act in the best interest of Turkey."

Senior officials close to negotiations with the US say the future of Iraq is a more crucial issue to any future vote than money, despite the country's economic problems. They say Turkey is not seeking increases in the offered $6bn (£4bn) aid package.

One of the factors behind parliament's refusal – besides polls showing that more than 90 per cent of Turks are opposed to war – was anger among MPs about the country's depiction in parts of the US press as a mercenary state seeking the best financial deal.