The majority of Turks are against the recent bombing of Iraq by American and British planes that killed four and injured tens others, according to a public opinion poll.
The poll, released by the Ankara Social Research Center (ANAR), was conducted in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Adana, Bursa, Konya, Diyarbakir, Samsun and Erzurum among 626,478 persons between February 26-28, said the Tukish Daily.
The results showed that a majority of Turks oppose bombing on Iraq by Western planes and the use of Turkey's Incirlik base to launch such attacks.
According to the poll, 84 percent of the respondents opposed the bombing of Iraq by American and British planes while only 6.4 approved, said the paper.
About 9.6 percent of the respondents refused to comment.
Meanwhile, 85.9 percent of the respondents also opposed the use of Turkey's Incirlik base by US and British planes in bombing operations against Iraq.
Only 5.8 percent said they approved while 8. 3 percent refused to respond.
In the meantime, the paper said that despite Ankara's efforts for better relations with Iraq, Baghdad asked the Arab League to put pressure on Turkey to stop American and British warplanes from using the Incirlik base to bomb Iraq.
Citing a report Saturday by The Associated Press, the paper said that Iraq on Saturday had appealed to the Arab League to intervene with the Turkish government and demand it to stop allowing US and British warplanes to fly from Turkish territory over Iraqi skies.
In a letter to the Arab League secretary-general, Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz asked Esmat Abdel-Meguid to demand the Turkish government to "stop its military logistical support for the American and British forces," AP said.
The support makes Turkey a "soul partner in the aggression against Iraq and totally responsible under international law for these acts that inflict damage on the Iraqi people."
American and British warplanes have been flying from the southern Turkish base of Incirlik to patrol skies over northern Iraq since April 1991.
But political disputes between the two countries are not hindering ways of strengthening their economic ties.
The daily said that a Turkish trade delegation of 150 people will visit Iraq next week for a five-day visit.
The delegation, headed by Foreign Trade Undersecretary Kursad Tuzmen, aims at developing economic ties with Baghdad.
“The visit is very important in terms of developing trade between the two countries. Turkish industrialists want to improve economic ties with Iraq,” said an official – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
