alienation news

Turkey Grows More Worried Every Day About a U.S. Attack on Iraq

Barely a day goes by without Turkey's prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, saying just how little he wants a war with his neighbor Iraq. He complains about being "caught in the middle." He bluntly raises Turkey's importance to the United States, on the map and as the only Muslim country in NATO.
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"We know that the United States cannot carry out this operation without us," he said last week. "That is why we are advising that it abandon the idea. We're telling Washington that we are worried about the matter."
In the end, there seems little doubt that Turkey, however reluctantly, would side with its big friend and patron. But months into the American drive for support against Iraq, Turkey's leaders are still withholding their wholehearted support, and their discomfort grows daily.