Washington ? The United States hopes to begin moving troops and supplies into Turkey as early as this week, preparing for an expected second front in a possible war with Iraq, Pentagon officials said Saturday.

They confirmed a tentative agreement on U.S. aid to Turkey, whose parliament could vote on the deal Tuesday. A Turkish official said the deal involved $5 billion in grants and $10 billion in loan guarantees from the United States.

But several U.S. officials said significant issues still were under negotiation. One American official said talks centered on complex terms of the loan.

Turkey, a NATO ally and Iraq’s northern neighbor, is pivotal for the Pentagon’s plans for a two-pronged invasion of Iraq if President Bush decides on war. Talks dragged on for weeks on the U.S. request to base tens of thousands of troops in Turkey, whose citizens overwhelmingly oppose military action in Iraq.

At least a half-dozen U.S. military ships are waiting off Turkey’s coast, part of a flotilla of more than three dozen vessels carrying supplies for the American ground troops.

In Crawford, Texas, where the president spent the weekend on his ranch, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said negotiations on final details of the deal were continuing.

“And I anticipate they will continue for a little bit longer. I think it’s fair to say that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to,” Fleischer said.

A Turkish protester chants slogans as he holds a makeshift U.S. flag, with a picture of Turkey's top politician Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a protest in the capital city of Ankara. The United States has reached a tentative agreement on aid to Turkey, whose citizens overwhelmingly oppose military action in Iraq.

U.S. war plans call for the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, supported by elements of the 1st Infantry Division, to gather in Turkey for a possible thrust south toward Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit and the capital of Baghdad.

The 4th Infantry’s 17,000 troops are on alert for deployment but remain at their home bases — Fort Hood, Texas, and Fort Carson, Colo.

Pentagon officials and military analysts say attacking Saddam’s military from two directions would mean a quicker battle with less risk for U.S. and allied military forces. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops already are massing in Kuwait, along Iraq’s southern border.

Some details of the U.S.-Turkish pact still had to be worked out, officials from both countries said Saturday. Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said Saturday that the Cabinet would take up the issue of basing U.S. troops in the country, but did not give a date.

“The relationship between Turkey and the United States is important. We’re discussing everything in the framework of mutual trust and respect,” Gul said.