Turks extend US spy nations

A new defense cooperation agreement of the United States and Turkey will enable normal operations to continue at important intelligence-gatherings stations in this country, according to Monitor contributor Sam cohen.

These stations monitor nuclear and other military activities inside the Soviet Union. the accord was reached Jan. 8 after a final round of talks in Ankara, attended by Matthew Nimetz, counselor of the US State Department, and James V. Siena, deputy assistant secretary of defense, who came to turkey over the past weekend.

Diplomats here believe that recent events in the Middle East, and particularly the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, prompted the agreement at this time. they also feel the new agreement will be initialed as soon as the two governments approve the texts. Mr. Nimetz, however, left Istanbul Wednesday morning without initialing the agreement, contrary to expectations.

Meanwhile, the Turkish government has decided to extend for another 45 days the temporary status under which the intelligence-gathering installations operate. That arrangement expired Ja. 9.

Turkey has been asking the US for $2.5 billion of military assistance in the negotiations. another difficulty was the Turks' insistence that all the installations should be under strict Turkish control.