Ankara, Turkey ? U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney told Turkish officials that Washington does not plan military action against Iraq in the near future, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Tuesday.

Cheney arrived here Tuesday on an 11-nation visit of the Middle East and Britain, which many said was aimed at drumming up support for a possible campaign to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Turkish leaders have repeatedly voiced opposition to any action against their southern neighbor.

Cheney “has very clearly stated that there will be no military action against Iraq in the foreseeable future,” Ecevit told reporters after his meeting with the U.S. vice president.

Ankara, the Turkish capital, is the last stop in Cheney’s tour. Almost all the countries he has visited refrained from supporting action against Iraq, insisting that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should be resolved instead.

Cheney said in Jerusalem earlier Tuesday that no decision had been made on whether to attack Iraq.

Cheney was scheduled to hold a news conference Wednesday morning, but U.S. Embassy officials said late Tuesday that it had been canceled due to “scheduling conflicts.”

Turkey, which borders Iraq, has urged Iraq to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to return to avoid possible U.S. military action. Iraq says it has dismantled its weapons of mass destruction, but has refused to let U.N. inspectors return since their 1998 departure.

“We hope that Iraq abides by U.N. decisions and opens its doors to inspections,” Ecevit said. “We hope that Iraq will take decisions that meet the expectations not only of the United States but of the whole world.”

Cheney met with Ecevit, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Military Chief of Staff Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu.

Turkey, a close U.S. ally, has strongly supported Washington’s anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan. Turkey was also a staging point for U.S. attacks during the Gulf War and U.S. planes are based here in Incirlik air base from which they patrol a no-fly zone over northern Iraq.

But Turkey fears that war in Iraq could further destabilize the region, and lead to the creation of a separate Kurdish state in northern Iraq that could in turn encourage similar ambitions among Turkey’s 12 million Kurds.

Cheney and Ecevit also discussed the possibility of Turkey taking over command of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.

Turkey, struggling with an economic crisis, is concerned about the cost of maintaining large number of its troops in Afghanistan. Ecevit said Cheney had informed him that the U.S. administration would propose a dlrs 228 million aid package to Congress to help Turkey take over the peacekeeping force.

Turkey became the first predominantly Muslim country to join the force, sending 267 troops for security patrols and humanitarian aid distribution. Britain wants to hand over the mission’s command by the end of April, before the mission’s mandate expires in June.

Earlier, Turkish police tightened security in downtown Ankara and detained 80 people for lack of proper identification, the Anatolia news agency reported. A few hundred people from trade unions and small left-wing parties protested Cheney’s visit, shouting anti-U.S. slogans.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani also arrived in Ankara for talks Tuesday. Talabani was not expected to meet with Cheney, but in a previous visit the Kurdish leader said he opposed a direct U.S. intervention in Iraq.