U.S. Warns of ‘Possible Terrorist Threat’ in Turkey

"This public announcement is being issued to alert U.S. citizens to a possible terrorist threat in Turkey," it added. "American citizens should be particularly cautious if they travel into or out of the Gaziantep airport."

The statement said the airport in Gaziantep, 315 miles southeast of Ankara, is being used while the runway at the airport in Turkey’s fourth-largest city, Adana, 115 miles to the west, is under repair. It said the government of Turkey had already taken "all prudent measures" to protect against the potential threat.

The advisory did not appear to refer to Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base, where the United States has a significant military presence but which one official said was about a two-hour drive from the area cited in the State Department release.

Turkey is expected to play a key role should the United States go to war with neighboring Iraq. President Bush has repeatedly threatened Baghdad with war if it fails to give up its suspected weapons of mass destruction.

Incirlik, which U.S. and British aircraft use as a base to patrol the no-fly zone over northern Iraq that was set up after the 1991 Gulf war to prevent Baghdad from attacking the Kurds, could play an important role in any conflict against Baghdad.

The base, in south central Turkey, hosts more than 4,000 U.S. and allied military personnel, of whom about 1,400 support F-15 and F-16 fighters as well as EA-6B Navy Prowler electronic warfare aircraft policing the northern no-fly zone.