Turkey's cabinet has agreed to the deployment of U-S troops on Turkish soil for a possible war with Iraq.
The cabinet drafted a motion approving the deployment after a lengthy meeting on Monday in Ankara. The measure still needs approval from the Turkish parliament.
Earlier, parliament speaker Bulent Arinc said legislators should not vote on the deployment until the United Nations takes further action on the Iraqi crisis.
Mr. Arinc said it would be wrong for Turkey's government to send such a request to parliament when conditions have not been met for what he called "international legitimacy."
Turkish and U-S officials have been working on a multi-billion-dollar package of U-S economic and military aid in exchange for Turkey opening its bases to U-S troops. U-S military planners want to use Turkish territory to launch a second front in northern Iraq in case of war.
Earlier reports said Turkish lawmakers were expected to vote on whether to accept the package as early as Tuesday. But the head of Turkey's ruling party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said a debate had yet to be scheduled.