U.S. Says No to Turks’ Demand for More Aid

The Bush administration Wednesday rebuffed Turkish demands that it increase the economic aid package it has offered to win Turkey’s help in opening a northern front in a war against Iraq.

The decision, which comes as U.S. troops are on ships heading to Turkey, complicates efforts by the administration to open the sort of northern front that had been considered key in a possible war against Iraq.

After weeks of negotiation, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul in a telephone call that a U.S. package of $6 billion in grants and $20 billion in loans is “all you’re going to get,” said a U.S. official, who asked not to be named.

Turkish officials, digging in their heels, said they wanted not only more money but also U.S. concessions on military and diplomatic issues. They signaled that they will not ask their parliament to vote this week on a resolution to allow U.S. troops through their territory, as the Bush administration has strongly urged.

Although U.S. and Turkish officials continued to insist that a deal was possible, the Turkish moves indicated to some observers that the Ankara leadership’s desire to avoid an unpopular war has become more powerful than their desire for the benefits that an alliance with the United States can bring.

“At this point, every channel has been tried and every deadline has been missed,” said Bulent Aliriza, an expert in Turkish affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “It’s impossible to be optimistic that they’re going to reach a deal.”

U.S. officials have been trying for nearly a year to talk Turkey into agreeing to allow American troops to pass through its territory to attack Iraq from the north. Such a move would force Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to divide and weaken his forces and could greatly accelerate the end of a war, Pentagon officials say.

Thousands of U.S. troops are now aboard Navy ships in the Mediterranean, waiting for permission to land, along with tanks, armored vehicles and other heavy equipment that could be used in an incursion into northern Iraq.

Defense officials said Wednesday that time is running out and insisted that they were prepared to make other plans for a northern front if Ankara did not go along with the United States, a longtime military ally.

“At some point, no decision is a ‘no’ decision by the Turks,” said a senior Pentagon official, who asked to remain unnamed.

He insisted that a failure to win Turkish approval was “not a showstopper” for the northern front plan, though it might require more preparation time.

The official said the Pentagon could open a second front by flying in forces to Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, although he acknowledged that that approach would make it harder to bring in tanks and other heavy equipment.

U.S. military leaders have been preparing to send in a heavy armored force of perhaps 40,000 troops through Turkey by ship and rail, analysts say. If the Turks refused access, the Pentagon could still airlift U.S. troops, but there might only be half as many and they would lack the tanks and heavy equipment that could give extra punch. Turkish officials told U.S. diplomats Monday night that they wanted a much larger aid package, including $10 billion in grants, $6.8 billion in debt forgiveness and $15 billion in loans, according to Aliriza.

The Turks, who fear that their economy would be shattered by a war, earlier were demanding as much as $150 billion, a Western diplomat said.

After U.S. officials made clear that they would not budge, the Turkish Council of Ministers held a 3 1/2-hour meeting Wednesday to consider their options. Afterward, Gul made another entreaty to Powell during a telephone conversation, but got nowhere.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party, pointed out in a television interview that U.S. and Turkish officials have also failed to agree on political and military issues.

The Turks have been pressing Washington to allow their troops to move beyond the Iraqi border area, in hopes of ensuring that Kurdish forces do not try to establish their own state or take over important northern cities such as Kirkuk and Mosul, Aliriza said. The Turks have also sought to be separate from the U.S. military chain of command, he said.

Turks fear that the Kurds could take advantage of a war against Iraq to set up their own state, destabilizing the heavily Kurdish areas of southeastern Turkey.

The United States has worked hard to win Turkish support.

Last week, the Turkish foreign minister and economics minister visited Washington for a round of meetings with President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).

Bush rarely meets with foreign leaders until such negotiations are completed, U.S. officials noted. But he made an exception in this case because of the urgency he saw in bringing the Turks on board, they said.

The Turks were worried that an aid deal approved by the White House could later die or be sharply scaled back by Congress.

Congress is already facing requests for war-related aid from a number of other countries, including Israel and Egypt. And a request to help Turkey is likely to meet with resistance from lawmakers who are advocates for Greek Cypriots and Armenians, congressional aides noted.

Erdogan, in comments to the Turkish news channel NTV, spoke of his concerns about Congress’ treatment of an aid package for his country.

He noted that approval for aid could take more than a month in Congress.

“They tell us a war could be over in three weeks,” Erdogan said. “What if Congress comes up with a decision only after that -- and the decision is negative?”

One senior congressional aide, however, said that it would be difficult for Congress to turn down a request for aid to Turkey that would help the U.S. military to end a war more quickly and with fewer casualties.

One senior Western diplomat said that the chances for a deal are still about 50-50. But he noted that “Turkey has classically negotiated right up to the last minute. So one can’t really know until a real deadline is met.”

The diplomat said that despite the Pentagon’s statements, if Turkey backs out “it would seem that a northern front is really not going to be an option.”

And that could complicate and lengthen a campaign and increase casualties -- a fact that “is unlikely to be forgotten soon in Washington,” he said.

In Brussels, meanwhile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization officially approved the deployment of AWACS radar surveillance aircraft, Patriot antimissile batteries and chemical-biological response units to protect Turkey.

The issue has been a divisive one in recent weeks because of the belief among members Germany and France that approving such a deployment would seem to signal the alliance’s support for a war and make it more likely.

NATO also ordered experts to report on how the alliance could assist Turkish civilians in the event of an Iraqi attack, such as by repairing damaged water and power networks.

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Special correspondent Zaman reported from Ankara and Times staff writer Richter from Washington. Staff writer John Hendren in Washington contributed to this report.