Turkey close to agreeing deal with American military

Turkey said yesterday it was close to reaching agreement with Washington on troop deployment that would also allow 40,000 Turkish soldiers to occupy part of northern Iraq.

The agreement is part of an outline deal allowing America to deploy 60,000 troops inside Turkey to open up a northern front with Iraq. But Washington's willingness to allow Turkey to launch a de facto invasion of part of Iraqi Kurdistan – a condition set by Ankara in the negotiations – is a move that has prompted alarm among Iraq's Kurdish leaders, who now fear they have been sold out.

America has indicated that the Turkish troops will cross the border and advance at least 12.5 miles into Iraqi Kurdistan on a 200-mile front. The deal has yet to be put to the Turkish parliament and, with Turkish public opinion deeply hostile to any American-led war in Iraq, the ruling party again yesterday postponed a vote.

Turkish officials say America has promised to stop Iraqi Kurds gaining a large measure of autonomy after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The two sides are also reported to have agreed that US officers would arm and disarm Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq under the supervision of Turkish officers. Turkey is fearful that endowing the Kurds with increased military strength would encourage them to form their own state. That could in turn inspire Turkey's Kurdish minority.

The deal would also give Turkey up to $30bn (£19bn) in US grants and loan guarantees. Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurdish leader, asked if the purpose of the impending US-led war was "to liberate Iraq, or is it to lead to the domination of the Kurdish people, who are 25 per cent of the Iraqi people?"

Turkey has stated that its invasion of Iraq is not directed against the Iraqi army but is intended to reduce Kurdish influence in a post-war settlement. In particular Turkey is seeking to prevent the takeover of the city of Kirkuk by returning Kurdish refugees deported over many years by the Iraqi regime.

America is now faced with an embarrassing dispute between two of its allies who loathe each other. Mr Zebari said that if the Turks did invade "there would be clashes". What has become clear is that Iraq is facing two invasions with entirely different targets. The US attack will be directed against the government in Baghdad and the Turks will be targeting the Kurds.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the American envoy to the Iraqi opposition, who was in the Kurdish stronghold of Salahudin yesterday, seeking without much success to reassure the Kurds, said the Turkish army's action would be "fully co-ordinated" with America. However, Turkey has insisted that its troops will not be under US command.

Senior Kurdish leaders have said they fear the Turks more than they do President Saddam. They also do not believe America is in a position to guarantee that Turkish soldiers will not advance beyond an initial 12.5-mile limit. Turkey says one of its aims is to prevent an exodus of Kurdish refugees into Turkey, as happened in 1991. Kurds respond by saying the mass flight was the result of an attack by the Iraqi army, which is unlikely to be repeated.

America is desperate for Turkish bases because it wants to open a northern front against President Saddam. The Iraqis have 12 divisions on the front line with Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Karim Sinjari, Interior Minister of the Kurdish region and former head of security in Arbil, the main city in Kurdish northern Iraq. He said the Iraqi Fifth Army Corps with five regular divisions and one Republican Guard division was defending Mosul, and the First Army Corps with another Republican Guard division was around Kirkuk. He said the number of Iraqi soldiers on the front line was at least 120,000.

The Kurds believe that President Saddam will seek to defend Mosul and Kirkuk. Mosul is a largely Sunni Arab city that has provided many officers for the Iraqi army and its loss would be a psychological blow to the regime. Mr Sinjari said: "Saddam's plan is to fight in the cities because this has two advantages for him: the US will not be able to use its air force, and the Iraqi army knows the terrain better than the Americans." Whether the Iraqi leader has enough loyal troops willing to fight and die in the face of inevitable defeat is far from clear.

Iraqi opposition leaders meeting in Salahudinissued a statement yesterday condemning the Turkish invasion. It said: "As a principle the Iraqi opposition is committed to oppose any regional intervention in the internal affairs of Iraq."

Despite Mr Khalilzad's reassuring words it is clear that, given a choice between Kurdish and Turkish support, America feels that it has no choice but to choose Turkey. In a statement, he said: "It is important now for our Kurdish friends to work with us and our ally Turkey to support the liberation of all the Iraqi people." A Kurdish official immediately placed a finger on this passage, pointing out the distinction between "friends" and "allies".

US officials have been taken aback by Turkish resolve to extract the best deal possible in return for its bases and also to pursue its own interests in northern Iraq. Turkey insisted that Mr Khalilzad reduce the number of his bodyguards before crossing into Iraqi Kurdistan and even turned back the retired general Wayne Downing, the White House's former expert on counter- terrorism, when he tried to cross the border.