NATO Agrees to Assist Turkey

BRUSSELS â€”  Ending weeks of deep, divisive wrangling, NATO agreed Sunday to help Turkey prepare to defend itself in the event of a U.S.-led war against Iraq.

Meeting late into the evening here, alliance representatives reached a consensus to supply Turkey, which borders Iraq, with sophisticated military planes, Patriot missiles and biological and chemical defense units.

The move had been held up for a month by France, Germany and Belgium, which had argued that such preparations could prejudice deliberations at the United Nations on whether to endorse the use of force to disarm Iraq. Those three nations are resisting efforts, led by fellow NATO members the United States and Britain, to win U.N. support for military action against the regime of Saddam Hussein.

But in the end, France was excluded from the final NATO decision, which was made by a military committee on which it does not sit. Germany and Belgium dropped their objections, despite a last-minute attempt by the Belgians to link NATO deployments to actions by the U.N.

“Alliance solidarity has prevailed,� declared NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, who has struggled with one of the worst crises in the alliance’s 54-year history. “We have been able collectively to overcome the impasse.�

Still, the NATO decision does not end the profound division that is sawing through the continent as the heads of European Union nations gather for an emergency summit here today to discuss what to do about Iraq.

Indeed, in a joint statement released after Sunday’s decision, France, Germany and Belgium said that they would live up to their obligations as NATO members to protect one of their own but insisted that not all alternatives to war with Iraq have been “fully exploited.�

The agreement in Brussels “in no way prejudges the efforts underway� at the U.N. to find a peaceful way for Iraq to disarm, stated the declaration by the French, German and Belgian ambassadors to NATO.

If anything, the antiwar camp led by France and Germany appears reinvigorated by recent events, including huge peace protests held over the weekend in many European capitals.

Robertson was careful to stress that Sunday’s action was “not a statement toward going to war� and that “we support the United Nations process.� The measures to protect Turkey, he said, were purely for defense and deterrence, a “very clear signal by the alliance that we will stand by an ally if that ally is under threat.�

A top North Atlantic Treaty Organization military official said deployments would probably begin in the next few days.

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Nicholas Burns welcomed Sunday’s action, calling it “a very big step forward,� Associated Press reported.

Turkey feels it would be particularly vulnerable to Iraqi military retaliation in the event of a war. The country is considering whether to assist in any U.S.-led action by allowing thousands of American troops to launch attacks from its soil.

The effort by France, Germany and Belgium to block preparations for Turkey’s defense was criticized last week by the Bush administration, which fears Hussein will exploit the growing political rift in Europe to delay military action against his regime.

But some European analysts blame the U.S. government for widening the breach to its own advantage, lining up support from Britain, Spain and Italy while giving France and Germany the cold shoulder.

“The Americans are now pursuing an active policy of dividing the Europeans,� said Francois Heisbourg, a former French defense official who is now director of a Paris think tank.

Intra-European tensions are liable to flare up here today during the emergency meeting of EU heads of state, a summit called by Greece, which currently holds the presidency of the union.

Some observers say that significant compromise from either end of the spectrum on Iraq is unlikely, resulting in what would at best be a tepid statement of unity.

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Chu reported from Brussels and Rotella from London.