Turkey to send troops to Iraq

The Turkish parliament has voted to send troops to help US-led forces in neighbouring Iraq - alarming some members of the US-appointed Governing Council in Baghdad.

Turkey has sent troops into Iraq in the past to pursue Kurdish rebels

Turkish MPs backed the deployment by 358 votes, with 183 votes against, a day after the government decided to send up to 10,000 troops to help stabilise Iraq.

Iraq's 15-member Governing Council initially said it opposed the Turkish move, but a formal statement on it was delayed and the Council later spoke only of "concerns" about Turkish troops.

The Council is due to discuss the deployment with Iraq's US administrator Paul Bremer on Wednesday, Council President Iyad Allawi said.

A Kurdish member of the Council, Mahmoud Othman, described the deployment as "the wrong thing to do", saying "it does not add to security, it is not useful".

A former foreign minister, Adnan Pachachi, who is a Sunni Muslim, told the BBC's World Today programme there was opposition to having troops from any of Iraq's neighbours in the country.

US praise

Turkey would be the first major Muslim nation to send troops to Iraq.

TURKISH ARMED FORCES Total strength of 800,000, with second largest army in Nato - mainly conscripts Staged three coups, in 1960, 1971 and 1980 Repeatedly attacked Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq Defeated PKK Kurdish rebels in Turkey in 1999 after 15-year war Commanded Isaf peacekeepers in Afghanistan from June 2002 to February 2003

"It is appreciated," said US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"You have Iraqis all across the spectrum - some who will be very happy, some who will be worried, some who will be neutral," he added.

"Now, we will simply have to work with the Iraqis."

Turkish officials have said the troops could be deployed mainly in Sunni Muslim areas of central Iraq, where US forces have been attacked repeatedly.

Anti-Turkish feelings are widespread in Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, where the Turkish military has previously conducted operations against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) separatists.

Turkish MPs defied the government in March, voting against allowing the coalition to use Turkey as a base for the invasion of Iraq.

Polls suggest most Turks still oppose any military role

But this time the government seems to have put more pressure on MPs, many of whom appear to have seen the logic of repairing strained relations with the United States and giving Turkey more influence in Iraq, the BBC's Jonny Dymond reports from Ankara.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkish troops would go to Iraq "not to prolong the occupation but to shorten its term".

"We are planning not only a military force, but also assistance and services for the Iraqi people", he added.

The government motion allows for an unspecified number of troops to be deployed in Iraq for one year - with the details to be left to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ministers.

Mr Erdogan said the decision would not be executed immediately and it would "depend on developments".

Turkish opposition

Opposition within the country is not as deep as it was to involvement in the war itself, our correspondent says.

The PKK recently declared it was ending its 1999 truce

But a recent public opinion poll indicated that 64.4% of Turks oppose sending troops and there have been almost daily demonstrations against a deployment in Iraq.

Turkey has a mainly conscript army and there are many concerned parents who have widespread support, our correspondent says.

Washington has offered Turkey, struggling with an economic crisis, a loan of $8.5bn, but has made it clear that it is conditional on co-operation over Iraq.

US counter-terrorism experts met Turkish officials last week and agreed on joint efforts to tackle the Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, which could include the use of military force.