Turkey to lobby Arab world on Iraq

It was not clear what degree of backing Erdogan hoped to win from those countries for any military action, which Turkey says should have the approval of the United Nations.

"Abdullah (Gul) will set off on a Middle East tour on the Iraq issue … He may also go to Iran," Erdogan said.

NATO member Turkey is a close ally of the United States and Israel and recently won support from President George W. Bush for its European Union membership candidate.

Although reluctant to countenance any war against its neighbour, Muslim Turkey is likely to provide the United States with support. Washington would probably seek use of airbases and permission to send special forces over the border if it finds Iraq has been concealing chemical, nuclear or biological arms programmes.

However, Turkey seeks assurances of financial help to safeguard a tentative recovery from economic crisis. Turkey says it lost billions of dollars in cancelled trade with Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War and cannot afford a similar cost this time.

"We took a heavy blow in 1991. Now we have to think and take steps. We are still paying the price," Erdogan said.

His Justice and Development Party (AKP) is still viewed with suspicion by Turkey’s conservative secularist establishment because of its roots in two now-banned parties banned for Islamist subversion. Erdogan embraces pro-Western policies but portrays his country as a bridge between the West and the Islamic world.

"If we are a country that unites the culture of Islam with democracy and if we serve as a model for that then, particularly after such an operation, Turkey’s position is very important," Erdogan said.

Turkey is particularly concerned that upheaval in Iraq could result in increased independence for the Kurdish groups that run northern Iraq. Ankara fears that could fuel possibly violent demands for autonomy among its own Kurds.

Military sources say Turkey has been building up troops on its southern border with Iraq for most of the last week, with about 15,000 complementing the usual deployments.

The troops are ready to provide for any refugee wave in a conflict which many here believe could start early next year.

"Reinforcements are continually arriving," a military official who asked not to be named told Reuters on Wednesday.

Local witnesses say Turkish armoured vehicles and tanks have been positioned near the mountainous border with Iraq.

Erdogan is barred from public office over a past conviction for stirring religious hatred. Gul will lead the government until Erdogan enters parliament in a by-election, probably in February, profiting from a constitutional change easing political bans.