Turkish parliament approves troop deployment in Iraq

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey's parliament voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to allow troops to be sent to Iraq, a move that could lead to the first major contingent of Muslim peacekeepers there. But Iraq's Governing Council said it opposes any deployment of Turkish soldiers.\nThe statement by the U.S.-appointed council in Baghdad reflected the history of tensions between the neighboring nations and many Iraqis' fears that Turkey aims to grab territory, suppress Kurds or dominate Iraq.\nDespite Iraqi concerns, the United States has been pressing hard for a Turkish deployment -- and the parliament vote will help patch up ties damaged in March when lawmakers refused to allow U.S. troops into Turkey to invade Iraq.\nThe motion gives the government the authority to send troops for a year, but does not specify how many troops would be deployed or when. Washington has asked Turkey to contribute some 10,000 soldiers.\nThe vote does not mean that soldiers will immediately be dispatched. The government is still negotiating the terms of deployment with the United States, which could take weeks or even longer.\nThe White House welcomed the vote, saying it will "provide even broader international participation in our efforts in Iraq."\n"We will be working with Turkish officials on the details of their decision," press secretary Scott McClellan said\nTurkish officials have said their country could send 5,000 to 10,000 soldiers and that the troops would largely be based in the Sunni Muslim section of central Iraq that has been a hotbed of anti-American violence. Turks are overwhelmingly Sunnis.\nWashington has made a worldwide call for money and troops to help rebuild Iraq. The United States has 130,000 troops in Iraq, and other countries have more than 20,000, including around 70 from the mostly Muslim nation of Albania.\nThe United States hopes that having a major Muslim nation in its coalition in Iraq will counter the image among many Arabs that the U.S.-led administration is a Christian occupation of a Muslim nation.\nBut Turkey would come to Iraq with a lot of historical baggage.\nThe Turkish Ottoman Empire ruled today's Iraq for about 400 years until World War I. For the past 15 years, Turkey has been fighting Turkish Kurdish separatists who have bases among their Kurdish brethren in northern Iraq.\nIraq's 15-member Governing Council met Tuesday to debate the prospect of a Turkish deployment "and after long deliberations we reached consensus on issuing a statement opposing the arrival Turkish troops," said council member Mahmoud Othman, a Kurd.\nBut the council delayed issuing the statement -- and Othman believed it was because of pressure from the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority.\n"We believe any interference from a neighboring country, either north, south, west or east, is unacceptable," said Mouwafak Al-Rabii, a Shiite council member and longtime human rights activist. "This interference is unacceptable. This interference will jeopardize Iraq and that country."\nTurkey, meanwhile, is demanding that the United States help Turkey crack down against Turkish Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and has made that support a virtual condition