THE HAGUE, 11/02/03 - The coalition parties are angry about the Belgian-French-German opposition to NATO support for Turkey. The Christian democrats (CDA), conservatives (VVD) and Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) all back the cabinet position that its NATO ally should be given support.

The cabinet responded positively last Friday to a bilateral request - not made through NATO - from Turkey for Patriot units. The Netherlands is sending three anti-missile systems, for which Germany supplies the missiles. The systems will be stationed with 370 servicemen at the Diyarbakir and Batman airbases in the south east of the country.

CDA MP Camiel Eurlings observed yesterday that blockading the support for Turkey "reduced the credibility of NATO foreign policy to zero. " VVD spokesman Jozias van Aartsen argued that the risk of instability in the region would grow if Turkey, an Islamic country, felt itself abandoned. He stressed that it had taken a long time before the Turks took the part of the US. LPF parliamentary leader Mat Herben considered the objections of the Germans, Belgians and French out of place. "You cannot refuse help to an ally. "

Labour (PvdA) has not yet expressed a view on the matter. Foreign affairs spokesman Bert Koenders wants to find out first whether the Turkish request "really only relates to defensive support. " The socialists (SP) pointed out that the "courageous" veto from Belgium demonstrated that a small country can still play a role in the international debate. The leftwing Greens (GroenLinks) also agreed that it would be a good thing if NATO refrained from war planning.