"There is no new demand. There is no new situation on this issue," Gul told reporters in Ankara.

He was speaking in reponse to questions raised after The New York Times newspaper reported that Washington wanted to move a wing of F-16 fighter planes from Germany to Turkey's Incirlik base as part of a project to realign its forces in Europe to better counter the threat of global terrorism.

A Turkish diplomatic source said the United States had so far made no demands from Turkey as part of its plans to rearrange its forces.

But, the source added that US military officials recently made a series of proposals to extend aerial training exercises undertaken in Turkey under a 1980 military cooperation accord.

"Turkey decided that there was no need for a new arrangement that would bring exceptions to the existing cooperation accord and conveyed its decision to US officials," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Turkey, the United States and Israel regularly hold air training exercises over the central Annatolia province of Ankara since 2001.

The Incirlik base was used by US and British fighter jets to patrol a no-fly zone over northern Iraq from the time of the Gulf War in 1991 until the invasion of Iraq last March.

Ankara then limited its use to logistical and humanitarian purposes.

The US has also used the base for refuelling and troop rotation into Iraq and Afghanistan.

WAR.WIRE