U.S. and Turkey at odds over Iraq

ANKARA, Turkey -- A split is reported to have emerged between the U.S. and Turkey over possible military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz met Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit for talks on Tuesday, as part of a trip aimed at gauging the level of support America can expect from Turkey -- a staunch ally during the Gulf War and the U.S.' war on terror in Afghanistan.

But Turkish diplomatic sources told CNN's Jerrold Kessel that "something of a difference, and perhaps in part, a sharp difference of opinion" exists between the two parties.

The sources added that Ecevit, whose coalition had lost its parliamentary majority only hours earlier, told Wolfowitz that he believed military action in Iraq would "lead to chaos in the region, would be destabilising, and cost Turkey very dearly in economic terms," Kessel said.

Turkey is already economically fragile relying on a $16 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. (Full Story)

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Wolfowitz is understood to have told Ecevit he "understands that Turkey has quite a legitimate interest in the region, and that the U.S. very much understands the interest," Kessel said.

But he also made it clear, CNN heard from the Turkish diplomatic sources, that the U.S. did not want to see Hussein continuing in power and that an operation was very possible.

"Whether Turkey supports it or not, the U.S. is bound to go ahead with such a policy," Kessel continued, quoting the source.

But he added the information had only come from Turkish sources and not from the U.S. side.

A difference of opinion would be a break from recent close relations.

Turkey, the sole Muslim member of NATO, allowed the U.S. to use its territory as a staging point for strikes on Iraq during the Gulf War, and it has provided air bases for coalition jets as they patrol the no-fly zone over neighbouring northern Iraq.

Turkey is also currently leading the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan as back-up for the U.S.-led war against terror.

But Turkey also has fears that any military action could lead to the formation of a Kurdish state next door with the knock-on effect of unsettling its ethnic Kurdish population.

Ankara has been fighting a 15-year civil war with rebel Kurds in the southeast of the country.

Military action could also see its Kurdish refugee numbers swell, as they did at the end of the Gulf War 11 years ago.

U.S. President George W. Bush has signalled his intention to take the war to Iraq, a member of the so-called "axis of evil," whether by peaceful or military means.

The Bush administration accuses Hussein of hoarding chemical and biological weapons and trying to obtain nuclear bombs -- charges which Iraq has repeatedly denied.