Ankara, Turkey ? In a stunning rejection that appeared to kill U.S. plans for a “northern front” in any war against Iraq, Turkey’s Parliament refused Saturday to authorize the deployment of 62,000 U.S. troops on Turkish soil.

As antiwar protesters staged a tumultuous protest outside the legislature, Turkish lawmakers weighed appeals by their government to join the U.S. war effort — and the offer of a $15 billion U.S. aid package in return — during a dramatic five-hour debate that ended in a cliffhanger vote in closed session. The tally was 264 votes in favor of the deployment, four short of the simple majority required by Turkish law. There were 251 “no” votes and 19 abstentions. Parliament then adjourned the body until Tuesday.

Even as the measure was going down to defeat, about 80 American ships carrying equipment for the Fourth U.S. Infantry Division floated off the Turkish coast in an indication of U.S. officials’ expectation that its NATO ally would pass the proposal.

The Bush administration did not immediately say whether it would redirect those vessels — along with the troops they would supply — south to Kuwait, the primary staging area for an assault on Iraq, or to press for a reversal of Turkey’s decision.

“We’re seeking clarification,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tara Rigler said.

Although Turkey’s government could seek a new vote, Prime Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters the government must respect Saturday’s outcome. Turkish commentators said the decision seemed final.

“President Bush has no chance now of carrying out his war plans,” said Sedat Ergin, a columnist for Hurriyet newspaper.

Meeting a deadline

The vote in Turkey was just one setback Saturday for the Bush administration Saturday as it attempts to build international support for its position that Iraq has refused to give up banned weapons and now must be disarmed by force. Iraq used bulldozers to crush four of its Al-Samoud 2 missiles, meeting the U.N.’s deadline to begin eliminating the medium-range rocket from its arsenal.

Iraq also destroyed a casting chamber for solid-fuel rockets and offered up more scientists for private interviews with inspectors. The steps seemed aimed at getting a positive report this week from chief weapons inspector Hans Blix. Blix is to offer his latest assessment of Iraqi compliance with U.N. demands Friday at a Security Council meeting.

Pentagon officials have said they can wage war against Iraq without Turkey’s participation. But deployment in Turkey would allow U.S. forces to attack Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, from the north as well as from the south, dividing Saddam’s army. Such a strategy, U.S. officials say, would make a war quicker and result in fewer casualties.

Iraqi soldiers guard the front entrance to the Al-Taji military camp, 20 miles north of Baghdad. U.N. weapons inspectors Saturday were carrying out the destruction of four Al-Samoud 2 missiles inside the camp.

“I don’t think (that strategy) is salvageable beyond this point because the timelines are very tight,” said a Western diplomat here. “From a planning point of view, the Americans needed an answer yesterday.”

A number of Turkish analysts said that if Saturday’s vote stood, it could upset Turkey’s long-term relations with its principal benefactor. But U.S. Ambassador Robert Pearson tried late Saturday to play down such pessimism, saying the Bush administration is respectful of Turkey’s democratic decision. Other diplomats noted that Turkey had demonstrated just the kind of democracy the United States says it wants for Iraq.

Isolated problems

Some analysts said the government might still be willing to propose opening some of Turkey’s bases to U.S. warplanes for airstrikes against Iraq.

But by turning its back on U.S. ground forces, the analysts said, Turkey might have difficulty winning future American support for international loans, entry to the European Union and a host of other foreign policy goals.

“Turkey will be an isolated country that cannot manage its problems and, without foreign aid, will be overwhelmed by those problems,” said Dogu Ergil, a professor of international relations at Ankara University. “That means trouble.”

In Iraq, the destruction of the Al Samoud-2 missiles began at the sprawling Al-Taji military complex, 20 miles north of Baghdad, where they had been brought from the army positions in which they had been deployed. Their destruction, watched by U.N. inspectors, took several hours, in part because the first bulldozer brought in by the Iraqis was not heavy enough to crush their steel casings.

“They built it very strong,” said Blix’s deputy, Demetrius Perricos, who was in Baghdad to coordinate with Iraqi officials on the methods and pace for destroying the liquid-fuel rocket that has the potential to carry chemical and biological warheads as well as conventional ones.

Perricos said the Iraqis decided that the missiles should be crushed, although he would have preferred blowing them up because it would be faster. He refused to venture how the Iraqi actions might play at the United Nations.

“Taking the Samoud 2 system out of the way is definitely a concrete action on disarmament,” Perricos said, but added: “I cannot tell you if this development pushes the war away.”