"We have not received a concrete request, but if a request is made to us, we will evaluate it," he said, cited by Anatolia news agency. "But frankly our attitude is favourable."

Media reports have suggested such a demand could be made when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Ankara on Saturday as part of a regional tour.

"We will speak clearly about the quantity and the nature of the equipment that will transit and the time that it will take to carry out the process," Babacan said of the upcoming discussions with the Americans.

On Friday, US President Barack Obama ordered an end to US combat in Iraq by August 31, 2010. Up to 50,000 US troops are to remain under a new mission until the end of 2011.

There are currently some 142,000 US troops in Iraq.

Turkey, a NATO member, refused in 2003 to open a northern front against Iraq from its territory for the United States, provoking a chill in relations between Ankara and Washington.

More recently, Turkish forces have carried out raids on Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq with the help of intelligence supplied by the United States.

Most of the population in heavily Muslim Turkey is opposed to the US presence in Iraq.

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