Turkey's New Leader Faces Big Test

Recep Tayyip Erdogan took over as Turkey's prime minister Friday, forming a new government as the country is under intense pressure from Washington to allow in U.S. combat troops or at least open its air space for U.S. jets ahead of an Iraq war.

It was a great personal victory for the head of the Islamic-rooted governing party, who just three years ago spent four months in jail for anti-secular activity.

It is also a great test for the popular leader, who grabs the helm as the government needs to choose between backing an unpopular war or facing the ire of its closest ally, the United States.

In just five days, Erdogan has spoken with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr. Bush also sent a letter asking the Turkish leader to open Turkey's air space for U.S. jets in the event of an Iraq war.

Earlier this month, Turkey's parliament rejected a resolution authorizing the deployment of 62,000 U.S. combat troops to open a northern front against Iraq. Erdogan has hinted that he will resubmit a troop deployment measure to parliament, but has not given any indication of when he planned to submit the resolution.

Erdogan said a resolution would not be on the agenda before parliament approves his government in a vote of confidence, private televisions CNN-Turk and NTV reported.

The premier said he would submit his program to parliament next week. A vote of confidence would follow three days later.

Outgoing foreign minister Yasar Yakis said earlier Friday: "After the government receives a vote of confidence, he will try to gauge the support among the legislators and will decide after that whether to submit a new resolution."

Erdogan has also said that Turkey needs more assurances from the United States on its own role in the future of Iraq, and Turkish leaders have hinted that they wanted to wait for the result of a U.N. vote on a resolution that would back the U.S. position on Iraq. It is unclear when the U.N. Security Council would hold the vote.

The United States, which has been pressing Turkey to authorize the deployment for weeks, seemed to be losing hope, with U.S. officials pressing for the scaled-down request to use Turkish air space.

The troop deployment resolution "is now a lower priority for the U.S. than the absolutely essential priority of the Turks saying yes to the air space" to be able to launch the first phase of the war involving heavy bombing of Iraq, said Bulent Aliriza, head of the Turkey Project at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The United States would only need such an assurance from Turkey if parliament does not pass the troop deployment resolution, which includes the use of air space. Erdogan told the U.S. leaders authorization to use Turkish air space would also have to be approved by parliament, party officials said.

The Pentagon has also ordered 10 Navy ships out of the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, where they could launch missiles on a path to Iraq that would not go over Turkey, officials in Washington said.

But U.S. soldiers continued to move equipment from the Turkish port of Iskenderun toward waiting stations near the Turkish-Iraqi border Friday and in a sign that Erdogan planned to resubmit the resolution, the premier purged from his Cabinet deputy premier Ertugrul Yalcinbayir, a staunch and vocal opponent of the U.S. troop deployment.

Erdogan made few other changes in the Cabinet. Outgoing premier Abdullah Gul became deputy prime minister and foreign minister, replacing Yakis.

Turks are overwhelmingly opposed to any war in Iraq, fearing that it will further damage the country's fragile economy.

But refusing to stand by Washington would strain Turkey's ties with its closest ally, which has backed Turkey in its bid to enter the European Union and is key for it to secure billions in international loans.

Friday was the culmination of a long personal struggle for Erdogan, who was forced out of his last office as Istanbul mayor and was convicted in 1999 of inciting religious hatred for reading a poem in a political rally.

He was barred from politics and could not run in November elections which saw his Justice and Development Party win a large majority in parliament. Justice legislators voted to change the constitution to allow Erdogan to run in Sunday's by-elections. Turkey's prime minister must be a legislator.

Turkey is an overwhelmingly Muslim country that is governed under a strictly secular constitution.