The United States should work to strengthen the opposition in Afghanistan to enable them to overthrow the hard-line Taliban regime instead of carrying out a possibly protracted ground operation there, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said on Friday.
He also said that Turkey, the only Muslim country in NATO, was ready to offer military training to the Afghan opposition, in an interview with the CNN Turk news channel.
"The deployment of ground troops from outside to Afghanistan turned out to be unsuccessful in the past," Ecevit said.
"A classic military intervention could last for years. New methods, new strategies should be outlined, because the world cannot live with such an intervention for a very long period of time," he added.
"There are opposition groups in the north, but they have so far failed to unite. I think it would be better to envisage a military operation [against the Taliban] on the ground by the Afghans themselves by ensuring their unity," Ecevit said.
The prime minister added that the opposition forces were weak at present and called on the US to help them strengthen their ranks.
"The US has a great duty on this issue... Afghanistan cannot be left with such an archaic regime. This regime should change," he said.
"Turkey cannot send ground troops there, but can provide military training [to the opposition], of course, if they desire so," said the prime minister of this country, which has the second largest NATO army in number after the US.
Ecevit expressed hope that Turkey's southern neighbor Iraq, an arch-foe of the US, would not become a target of the US-led anti-terrorism campaign.
"It will be very dangerous to extend the front and the targets," he warned, adding that the eventual strike in Afghanistan should concentrate on "pinpoint targets."
Ecevit signaled that Turkey would supply Washington with intelligence regarding particularly the opposition-held northern regions of Afghanistan.
"The importance of intelligence has grown significantly... Turkey could make useful contributions from this point of view," he said.
Turkey has maintained close relations with key anti-Taliban commander Abdul Rashid Dostam, who ended in April a self-exile in Turkey.
Ecevit said Ankara was already providing "material and moral support" to Dostam, who was in control of northern Afghanistan including the key city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Uzbekistan's borders before the Taliban flushed out his ethnic Uzbek supporters from the region in 1998.
Asked about what specific contributions Turkey could make to an operation against Taliban, Ecevit said that, "we should first know what the US administration is planning."
He added, however, that, "we are in full cooperation with the US in the struggle against terrorism” -- ANKARA (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
