Beheading hinders Bush talks
2004-06-27 17:24
Ankara - US President George W Bush sought on Sunday to bolster ties with vital ally Turkey, a courtship complicated by terrorists' threats to decapitate three Turks unless the country's companies stop aiding US forces in Iraq.
Bush hoped to use a Nato summit here to nail down details of the alliance's tentative plan to assist with the training of Iraqi security forces.
But he also was getting a reminder of widespread opposition in Turkey to the war in Iraq, its southern neighbour. More than 40 000 protestors, some chanting "USA get out of the Middle East," gathered in Istanbul to protest his visit.
Pledging to fight for Turkey's membership in the European Union, Bush held out Turkey as a model for the Middle East as he met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, a day before the summit in Istanbul of the 26-member Nato alliance.
"I appreciate so very much the example your country has set on how to be a Muslim country and at the same time a country which embraces democracy and rule of law and freedom," Bush said.
"I believe you ought to be given a date by the EU for your eventual acceptance into the EU," he said.
Terrorist threat
Bush's first trip to Turkey followed the capture in Iraq of three Turkish workers by supporters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born terrorist believed to have ties to al-Qaeda. The kidnappers threatened to behead their hostages within 72 hours.
Asked at a photo opportunity in Istanbul with Nato secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer if the hostage situation had cast a pall on the summit, Bush said "No."
A White House spokesperson, Sean McCormack, said: "We're in close contact with the Turkish government on the issue. It is an awful reminder of the barbaric nature of these terrorists, but their acts will not shake the will of free people everywhere."
US officials said they were in close contact with the Turkish government, which on Sunday ruled out negotiating with terrorists, according to reports.
"Turkey will not bow to pressure from terrorists," Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul said.
Gonul reportedly made the comments after a meeting with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ahead of the summit.
Bush is hoping his talks with Turkish leaders Sunday will smooth the US partnership with the only Muslim nation in the Western alliance.
Distrust of US policy in Iraq reaches from the streets to the halls of government.
Politicians here worry that if the new government in Baghdad collapses it will destabilise Iraq, Turkey's neighbour.
But among diplomats, there was no mention of the Turkish parliament's rejection last year of a US request to let American troops use Turkish bases as a staging ground to invade Iraq from the north.
- AP