ISTANBUL, 7 July 2003 — Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said a crisis between Turkey and the United States over the reported arrest of 11 Turkish soldiers by US forces in Iraq would be settled soon, as hundreds protested outside the US Embassy in Ankara.

Gul was speaking after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made renewed efforts in telephone talks with US Vice-President Dick Cheney to end a major row marring relations between Turkey and its main NATO ally.

By early yesterday the Americans had still not officially confirmed the arrests. The White House made no comment about a 30-minute telephone conversation on the storm over the arrests between Erdogan and Cheney, which was reported by Turkish media.

But at the US Defense Department, a spokeswoman, Maj. Sandra Burr, said: “I don’t have anything for you. I don’t think anyone is responding to these queries at the moment.”

A State Department official said a statement could be released later in the day.

The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that they had been carried out because “certain Turks were planning to commit an attack on the governor of Kirkuk (in northern Iraq).”

Gul firmly rejected the reports, describing them as nonsense.

Meanwhile some 250 gathered outside the US Embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara to protest the detentions, chanting “Free our soldiers,” “America out” and “We will not be America’s servants”.

In Istanbul, police prevented two demonstrations reaching the US consulate, firing tear gas to disperse about 100 protesters, Anatolia news agency reported. Anatolia said the phone call between Erdogan and Cheney had lasted half an hour.

No details were immediately available, but Turkish diplomats, who did not wish to be identified, were quoted by NTV television channel as saying things were “moving in the right direction.”

They said the prime minister would make an official announcement when the matter was settled.

The prime minister had said Saturday he hoped the matter might be closed the same evening. Gul said Secretary of State Colin Powell was doing all he could to clear up the matter before the weekend was over.

Turkey threatened unspecified retaliation after the three officers and eight non-commissioned officers were arrested on Friday in Sulaymaniyah, the fiefdom of the Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Hurriyet reported. They were later reported under guard in Baghdad.

Erdogan was furious, reportedly saying: “This is a repugnant incident that should never have happened.”

Twenty-three auxiliaries and civilian employees of the Turkish forces seized at the same time had since been released, Erdogan said yesterday.

The Turkish press reported that the Turkish military had threatened to close airspace to US traffic, and refuse further logistical support to the Americans in Iraq, and would reinforce its presence in the region.

NTV said Turkey had withdrawn two high ranking officers serving with US central command at Tampa, Florida, since the Afghan conflict began. Turkish political sources condemned the reported American action, describing it as not in line with the spirit of half a century of NATO cooperation.