ANKARA, March 2: Turkey’s ruling party said on Sunday it was considering a new parliamentary ballot on the deployment of US troops here for a possible Iraq war, a day after lawmakers spurned the US request in a narrow vote.

“This issue is being evaluated by the party leadership and the government,” Justice and Development Party (AKP) chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters here after talks with top party and government officials.

“If deemed necessary, this step (a second motion) will be taken,” he added.

The announcement came amid what observers were calling a serious danger to relations between Turkey and the United States, after MPs on Saturday declined to give the green light for 62,000 US soldiers to deploy in Turkey.

The vote delivered a serious blow to US plans to invade Iraq from the north and blocked Turkish plans to send troops to northern Iraq to keep check on the region’s breakaway Kurds.

A senior party official, Eyup Fatsa, meanwhile, said that there was no plans for a new motion “in the foreseeable future”.

The AKP controls nearly two-thirds of the 550-seat legislature, but it failed by three votes to win support for the measure despite intense efforts to ensure MPs toed the government line.

Commentators warned on Sunday that denying the United States access would deprive Turkey of vital financial aid to offset the costs of an Iraq war, and cut Ankara out of any say in Iraq’s post-war reconstruction.

“If the Turkish decision is not changed, it is inevitable it will cause a big earthquake in Turkish-US ties,” the Hurriyet newspaper said.

But both Mr Erdogan and Prime Minister Abdullah Gul maintained on Sunday that bilateral ties would remain intact.

“The strategic partnership and the historical ties between the US and Turkey cannot deteriorate in one day just as they have not been built in one day.” Mr Erdogan said.—AFP