ANKARA, March 11: Scuffles broke out and insults flew in the Turkish parliament on Tuesday during a debate on the presence of US military personnel in the country despite a recent vote blocking massive deployment of American troops ahead of a possible war on Iraq.

The tension rose over a petition by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) demanding a parliamentary probe into US military activities, which it said had “turned the country into a theatre for war preparations.”

Parliament, which is dominated by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), rejected the petition.

“You are all American footmen,” one opposition MP shouted at AKP colleagues, sparking scuffles and an exchange of insults.

The CHP demand for a probe came amid public anger at accelerated US military activities in Turkey, which officials say are within the scope of a parliamentary decision in February allowing US personnel to upgrade Turkish military facilities.

But legislators rejected a follow-up government motion, calling for the deployment of 62,000 US soldiers who would invade Iraq from the north, in a dramatic vote on March 1.

US ships have nevertheless continued to unload military equipment at Turkish ports, and long convoys of trailer trucks have been carrying them to regions close to the Iraqi border on a daily basis.

“It is not known what they are carrying. I guess these are not baseball bats for the American soldiers,” CHP deputy Haluk Koc said. The Turkish military has said the activities are within the scope of the decision to allow facilitiis modernization.

The government is now considering calling for a second parliamentary vote on a full-scale deployment of US troops.

The CHP petition, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, suggested that the initial permission to deploy US engineering corps specialists had become “meaningless and baseless” after parliament denied US combat troops access to Turkish territory.

“But despite that, some practices have recently turned the country into a theater for war preparations... It is understood that new logistical bases are being set up, that seaports, land bases and certain facilities are being rented to foreigners,” it said.

“The parliament was not asked to authorize such activities in the motion it approved,” it added.

The CHP’s move followed the outburst this weekend of parliamentary speaker Bulent Arinc, who called the US military activities a “de facto” deployment.

“The images that we see on television are extremely disturbing... It makes me bristle,” said Arinc, an influential anti-war member of the ruling party.

REPORTERS CAUGHT: Three reporters, two from the United States and a Turk, have been caught by Turkish security forces while trying to cross illegally into northern Iraq, Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday.