01/31/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09678

TURKEY -- ALLY AGAINST TERROR

Turkey is a longtime friend and NATO ally of the United States. Turkey’s help was invaluable when the U.S.-led coalition liberated Kuwait from a brutal Iraqi occupation eleven years ago. And since the September 11^th attacks on the U.S., as President George W. Bush said, Turkey has been "steadfast in [its] support in the war against terror." For that, he said, the U.S. is "very grateful."

Turkey was an early supporter of the effort to drive Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terrorists and their Taleban protectors out of Afghanistan. And now that the Taleban have been ousted, Turkish troops are active in Afghanistan as peacekeepers.

Turkey’s sixty-seven million people are mostly Muslims. But the country has a secular constitution that bans the mixing of religion and politics. Turkey has a democratic government, and in recent years, it has made considerable progress on respecting human rights. Nevertheless, Turkish leaders are well aware that further progress is essential. As Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said on his recent U.S. visit, Turkey provides "living proof that a Western-type democracy can exist and thrive in a predominantly Muslim country."

One of the most important subjects discussed by President Bush and Prime Minister Ecevit was Iraq. Eleven years after the end of the Persian Gulf War, Iraq continues to violate the cease-fire agreement by refusing to allow weapons inspections by the United Nations. As U-N Security Council resolutions make clear, Iraq must submit to such inspections to ensure that it has eliminated all programs to develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and long-range ballistic missiles.

Iraq is a longtime state sponsor of terrorism. As President Bush said, "Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility towards America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade." Neither the U.S. nor its allies can take the chance that these weapons of mass destruction might get into the hands of al-Qaida or other terrorists.

President Bush stressed that the U.S. "will consult closely with Turkey" on the question of Iraq. But one thing should be clear. Saddam Hussein must let the U-N weapons inspectors back into Iraq. "And if he doesn’t," said President Bush, "we’ll have to deal with that at the appropriate time."