"A total of 204 unarmed Humvee vehicles, which were brought to Turkey for site preparation, have been transferred to northern Iraq for the last few days," the Turkish General Staff said in a written statement.

"It is known that the United States has begun sending some military vehicles and equipment, which were brought to Turkey for site preparation, to certain regions after the government's motion on deployment of US troops in Turkey was rejected by the parliament on March 1," the statement said.

It noted that the transfer of vehicles was not related to US Secretary of State Colin Powell's just concluded visit to Ankara.

Relations between the United States and Turkey have recently deteriorated since the Turkish parliament on March 1 rejected a US demand to deploy 62,000 troops in Turkey to open a northern front in the war on Iraq.

The US troops, which originally planned to deploy in Turkey, have been rerouted to Kuwait to enter Iraq to provide reinforcements to the advance units.

Meanwhile, tens of hundreds of US airborne troops have parachuted in northern Iraq in the past week to set up the northern front for the final encirclement of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

Powell's two-day visit to Ankara came after the US-led coalition forces were accelerating their advance toward Baghdad after overcoming stiff resistance in central and southern Iraq.

He arrived in Ankara Tuesday night on a fence-mending mission to underline Washington's commitment to the strategic partnership between the two countries.

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2003)