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TURKEY
Strategic significance:
Key staging ground for any U.S. attack
In the 1991 Gulf War they:
Joined the U.S.-led coalition
Now they:
Don't want war, but will likely back any U.S. invasion if only to protect their interests in Iraq
Their interest in Iraq:
Oil supplies, trade and, most importantly, preventing Iraq's Kurds from attaining anything close to independence for fear of encouraging Turkey's own Kurdish population to seek the same.
Domestic concerns:
Government unstable, significant support for moderate Islamist parties, Kurdish separatism
Price for backing the U.S.:
Curbs on the autonomy of Iraqi Kurds, possibly even sending their own troops into northern Iraq.
A Turkish viewpoint: www.turkishdailynews.com/
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