Ankara has responded to a US request for military assistance in the Afghan campaign by offering to dispatch five 12-man teams of "red beret" commandos to the front.
While the troops' primary role will be to help train the forces of the opposition Northern Alliance fighting the Taliban regime, the Turks will also assist in humanitarian operations.
The Turkish Prime Minister, Mr Bulent Ecevit, said: "We may be faced with unknown and unwanted situations," indicating that the commandos could be forced to fight.
Washington had serious reasons for seeking Turkish participation. The first was stated by Turkey's Foreign Minister, Mr Ismail Cem, when he said his country's Muslim troops would send a message to the Muslim world that "this is not a war against Islam".
Secondly, the Turkish teams are made up of well-seasoned soldiers who have been involved in Ankara's 15-year military campaign against Kurdish separatists in the south-east of the country. They are experts at fighting guerrillas in a wild and mountainous terrain.
Thirdly, Turkish troops can communicate with ethnic Uzbek tribesmen belonging to the Northern Alliance since the Turkish and Uzbek languages are similar. (Islamist Alliance commanders are, however, reportedly unenthusiastic about assistance from staunchly secular Turks.)
Fourthly, the US would like to offset Pakistani demands for Pushtun tribal ascendancy in a post-Taliban regime with Turkish claims on behalf of the Alliance whose combined ethnic groupings represent 60 per cent of Afghans. Finally, Washington hopes that once Turkey has troops on the ground in Afghanistan, it would assume a major role in post-war peacekeeping.
As quid pro quo, Ankara has received assurances from the US Treasury Department that Turkey's financial needs will be met and there is an expectation that Turkey's accession to the European Union would be expedited.
The Turkish press, however, has warned that Ankara's strategy is "risky". Fehmi Koru wrote in Yeni Safak: "Turkey has no place in a war that is . . . losing international support, seems unable to attain its goal and is hard to sustain under winter conditions."
A recent opinion poll revealed that 86 per cent of Turks oppose sending troops to Afghanistan, 63 per cent are against Ankara's support for the war and 66 per cent oppose Washington's military campaign. Only 13 per cent believe Osama bin Laden was behind the attacks on the US.
