Apparently the Turks are going to vote again on whether to allow American forces - although it's not clear that this concession will come soon enough for the current schedule. As I understand it, American hardware has been in Turkey for some time, but off-base.
The Turks have really been dragged through the mud for their opportunism, and no doubt cynics will have the same reaction to this late-breaking change of heart. But as I've explained before, the Turks have more at stake here than just a payout from the US government. The US invasion of Iraq will have huge unintended (but not unforeseen) consequences for Turkey. They're facing a humanitarian crisis of colossal proportions, whether they choose to aid the US or not. A Kurdish rebellion in northern Iraq could have political consequences as well.
But US troops on that northern front would minimize the political danger to Turkey, and US payouts would help defray the costs of the refugee crisis in terms of damage to the Turkish economy. So why didn't the Turks vote to provide bases for US troops before?
The only satisfying answer seems to be the bungled diplomacy of the Bush administration. Because of widespread opposition to the war in the Turkish public, the Turkish parliament had incentives to vote against providing bases, especially when there was still talk of a diplomatic solution; the US apparently failed to offer and a compensation package that neutralized those incentives. Now that war is a certainty, they're backed into a corner, so in a sense, we've called the bluff. But the potential consequences for Turkey - historically a close ally of the US - are grave.
UPDATE: Now it's looking like the vote is only for flyover rights, which won't help much with the refugee problem. At this point Turkey intentds to send troops into northern Iraq, which could be a nightmare scenario if Turkish troops clash with Iraqi (or Turkish) Kurds.
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