Turkey agrees US base expansion

[cal04]

After months of delay, Turkey's Cabinet has approved a long-standing US request to have increased access to a strategic air base for flying into Iraq and Afghanistan. The decision on Monday was another step toward improving relations with Washington that were strained when Turkey refused to allow US troops to stage an invasion of Iraq from Turkish territory in March 2003.

A Cabinet decree - allowing the US to fly in more cargo planes into the southern Incirlik Air Base for one year beginning in June - was sent to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer for approval, the semiofficial Anatolia news agency said.
The details of the agreement were not released. Washington's request, which was relayed to Turkey in June, asked permission to establish a logistics hub at Incirlik.

US Ambassador Eric Edelman and Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul are scheduled to hold a joint news conference on the deal Tuesday. According to private NTV television, Turkey also accepted a Pentagon request for blanket clearance for all cargo flights, backing off an earlier stance that each flight should get separate permission before landing and takeoff. US diplomats had expressed unease about Turkey's delay and its insistence on requiring separate permission for each flight.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5498645E-B169-46F5-AFE8-DF7F6E02F590.htm

[PATRICK]

1. So with the Iran issue

does this mean Turkey is allowing themselves to be quietly used or do they have assurances the mode of US operation will not involve them?

It seems the supreme confidence THIS time about the Iran plan that as a hot issue is not even embedded in the MSM subconscious is that something big and internal will remove the military obstacles that are so formidable and costly to the US.

Lots of movement in dark territory and I note most of DU is pretty distracted from the upcoming biggest tragedy of the year and the likely LIHOP disaster that will repair Bush's slide and enable ALL agendas.

The Saudis seem OK. Turkey seems OK. The Iranians seem like a quietly stuck record. The Israelis seem modestly fretting over details.

The Peace Movement should get ahead of the game for once and find out what is going on.

[liveoaktx]

2. Somewhere there is money or giveaways in this

I remember hearing on NPR before the Iraq War started, and US wanted to use Turkey as a base, that they had a nice package(read: bribe) for them.