The Turkish military said Saturday it had completed preparations for moving into northern Iraq, but denied reports that it has already sent a new commando unit into the area.
The military statement came amid growing pressure on Turkey from the US to keep its forces out of the volatile region and as relations between NATO allies Turkey and the US have been increasingly strained over Iraq.
The US appeared to have given up on any hopes of using Turkish soil to open a northern front against Iraq. Dozens of US ships carrying weaponry for the US Army's 4th Infantry Division off the Turkish coast had been redirected to the Persian Gulf.
Turkey also announced that US jets will no longer be able to use a Turkish air base, as they have since shortly the 1991 Gulf war, for air patrols of a no-fly zone over northern Iraq, as a protection of the Kurdish population there.
Despite strong opposition in Washington, Turkey has said that its forces could enter autonomous Kurdish areas of northern Iraq to prevent any massive flow of refugees or to stop the creation of a Kurdish state. Turkey fears that a Kurdish state could inspire to action Kurdish rebels who battled the Turkish government for 15 years.
Turkey's parliament on Thursday authorized Turkish troops to enter Iraq.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Saturday that "as long as it is necessary, Turkey would implement the decision" allowing it to send troops into northern Iraq.
The "Turkish armed forces has completed all its planning and is ready to implement these plans if the situation and conditions require," a statement from the military said.
The statement denied reports that some 1,000 Turkish commandos had already crossed into northern Iraq.
A military official said Friday that soldiers in M-113 armored personnel carriers rolled into northeastern Iraq from near the town of Cukurca, where the borders of Turkey, Iraq and Iran converge. He said the soldiers were reinforcing several thousand Turkish troops already on the Iraqi side of the border and were not ordered to go deeper into Iraq.
Similar reports were front-page news in Turkish newspapers Saturday and were carried on Turkish television stations throughout the night.
"Such news is not true and does not reflect reality," the military statement said.
An official from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which controls the Iraqi side of the border, said he had no knowledge of any crossing.
"No Turkish troops have entered into our areas," said KDP spokesman Hoshyar Zebari.
Iraqi Kurdish groups have vowed to oppose any Turkish intervention.
In Washington, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday: "We don't see any need for any Turkish incursions into northern Iraq."
The US had hoped to use Turkey to attack Iraq from the north, but Turkey's parliament earlier this month refused to grant access to Turkish bases for a war.
Dozens of US ships carrying weapons have been waiting to unload in Turkey for the war. But two US defense officials said Saturday the ships were to be redirected to the Persian Gulf.
Meanwhile Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri yesterday warned neighboring Turkey against supporting a US-led war against Baghdad, vowing "multiple harm" for Iraq's enemies.
"We hope that our Turk neighbors would realize their true interest ...Who seeks to harm Iraq, multiple harm would be inflicted on him," Sabri told reporters on arriving in Damascus, en route to an Arab ministerial meeting in Cairo.
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