US Secretary of State Colin Powell will seek Turkey's agreement on Wednesday not to send any large force into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq for fear it could undermine the U.S.-led war against Baghdad. The United States is concerned any large-scale Turkish incursion could stir conflict with the Kurds and creates a "war within a war" that could damage its military campaign to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

With a U.S. aid deal at stake for Turkey, Powell spoke of a "lingering sense of disappointment" since Ankara's parliament denied permission for up to 62,000 U.S. troops to use Turkish territory to open a "northern front" against Iraq.

Turkey has so far reserved the right to bolster a military presence in northern Iraq if it sees a danger of the Kurds establishing an independent state that, it says, would rekindle armed Kurdish separatism in Turkey's southeast. Iraqi Kurds have threatened to repel any unilateral Turkish "invasion."

Small detachments of Turkish forces have been in northern Iraq since the 1990s fighting Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas sheltering in the mountains there.

Powell said he was in Ankara to cement an informal agreement over northern Iraq and to improve faltering Turkish cooperation on aid shipments there amid a U.S. proposal of up to dlrs. 8.5 billion in loan guarantees for Turkey's frail economy.

The United States withdrew a dlrs 30 billion-aid offer for Turkey when access for U.S. troops was denied.

With some media forecasting "Kiss and Make Up" talks, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said: "(Powell's) visit will definitely be very useful in removing some doubts that have been circulating in recent days."

Powell was set to meet Gul, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the head of Turkey's powerful army before leaving Ankara later on Wednesday for Belgrade, officials said.

He will meet NATO and EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the war, the European Commission says. The invasion of Iraq is opposed by a number of European countries, notably France and Germany.

PHOTO CAPTION

Secretary of State Colin Powell waves to members of the media upon his arrival in Ankara, April 1, 2003. (Reuters)