US, Turkey Negotiations Resemble a Car Deal

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Turkey's foreign minister refused to reply to Secretary of State Colin Powell's demand that Ankara decide today whether the U.S. can stage forces in Turkey.

"A reply today is not being discussed," Foreign Minister Yasir Yakis said.

Early this week, the Turkish government unexpectedly raised its request for aid by $6 billion and refused to submit the staging question to Parliament for a vote until Washington agreed to the additional amount. In public and in private, Washington said no.

"Our position is firm," Powell said this morning, though he added without elaborating that "there may be some creative things we can do."

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said of the administration's hard line on aid to Turkey, "This is not a bluff."

New York Times

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You're right it is a bit like that. It's amazing.

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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1045748395771

Quote:

Turks say US troop agreement unlikely before Tuesday

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The Associated Press Feb. 21, 2003

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ANKARA - Turkey doesn't expect a crucial vote on whether to allow in US combat soldiers for an Iraq war before next week, Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said Thursday, as US and Turkish negotiators struggled to close a $4 billion gap between Turkey's demand for financial aid and a US offer.

In a sign that a breakthrough might be possible, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Washington that "there may be some creative things we can do" to gain acceptance of a proposed aid package.

Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan said the dispute could be resolved "within days."
"We're somewhere close to an end in the negotiations," Yakis said.
Turkey has demanded $10b. in aid, while the US is proposing some $6b.

Negotiators are now discussing the possibility that some of the US money could be converted into much larger loans, a Western diplomat said. Under the formula being discussed, each billion in grants that is converted would become $6b. to $10b. in loans, depending on the length of the loan and the amount of interest paid, the diplomat said.

But it is not clear whether Washington will accept more delays.
Powell said he expected an answer from Turkey by the end of Thursday. US officials say a reply is urgently needed and that delays could hamper war plans.

Asked when Turkey would send its reply, Yakis said: "There is no question of an answer going today," the Anatolia news agency reported. "It is difficult for the authorization to come to parliament this week."

But he left open the possibility that the government could decide in principle earlier and leave the final authorization for next week.
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters that a statement would be made Friday about the basing of US troops. He did not elaborate.

Time is running out for more than Iraq.

timber

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"WAR GAMES"
More like a poker game .... the key words here are Turkey "raised its request for aid by $6 billion." The U.S. had offered them $26 billion!!! Our "foreign aid" packages to many countries are astronomical. (Available at various sites on the web.) We buy our "friends." Either in outright "grants" or with "loans." Of course this has been going on for years and years. Only now, the level of global communications brings the numbers to the masses. Besides our kith and kin coming home in body bags, this "war" is going to cost us billions and billions of dollars - even given the rosiest of scenarios.[/color]

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FROM PDIDDIE'S NY TIMES SITE
This is from PDiddie's NY Times site. Note the $26 billion figure:

"Our position is firm," Mr. Powell said this morning, though he added without elaborating that "there may be some creative things we can do." The chief White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said of the administration's hard line on aid to Turkey, "This is not a bluff." Before the new request came in, Washington had offered Ankara $26 billion in grants, loans and loan guarantees.
[/color]

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Turkey - Car Deal
Found an article you may find interesting ~

http://www.motherjones.com/news/warwatch/2003/08/we_301_05.html

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Thanks, Stradee.

I still say they're dickering over the undercoating:

Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Friday that the United States and Turkey had made "some progress" on reaching an agreement for economic aid in exchange for allowing U.S. troops to be based in Turkey for a possible invasion of Iraq but it was not a done deal yet.

"I think we have made some progress," Powell told reporters as he flew to Asia. "It is not yet a done deal but there has been progress in the last 12 hours."

"Our teams will be working intensively over the next two to three days to resolve these issues. They are difficult but they should be resolvable and if they are resolved then we believe the possibility exists for the Turkish government to take this to their sales manager--err, parliament, for approval early next week," he said.

ABCNews.com

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Turkey ~ Car Deal
Your welcome PD, and I believe you're correct.

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Can I just say one thing??
This topic description makes me laugh.....

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Well we will get what we pay for from Turkey that is what I think. My former husband was stationed in Korea in the middle 50s and he said they were having lots of trouble with the locals stealing from the camp. Finally one day he said the Turks got tired of the problem and just cut off the head of a thief they caught him and put it on a post outside their encampment. After that the Turkish troops had no problem with theft. Now that makes me think we mibht want the Turks for more than just a staging area for our troops and we especially want them on our side paid or not.

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That's interesting, Joanne, and I agree. I recall from basic training that our military Code of Conduct was developed after our experience as prisoners of war in the Korean war. We pretty much adopted the Turkish standards of deportment.

Not a bad analogy, PDiddie.

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Pretty much takes care of the coalition of the willing, doesn't it?

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Have you heard of the new government agency called rent an ally [RAA]. It is funded by the savings from social programs.

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http://www.bartcop.com/no-more-turkey.jpg

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US, Turkey Negotiations Resemble a Car Deal

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