ANKARA, March 25: The United States, eager for stability in northern Iraq to marshal a possible second front against Baghdad, apparently failed on Tuesday in a bid to talk Turkey out of sending troops into the Kurdish-controlled area.

“We will continue our discussions in the coming days,” U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said after a second day of talks with Turkish officials.

“This is a difficult and complicated issue,” he said.

The United States and the European Union have told Turkey not to send forces into the area, fearing clashes between them and local Kurdish militia helping small numbers of U.S. troops secure the area as Iraqis watch from the mountains.

Turkey told the EU on Tuesday its forces were massed at the border only for humanitarian reasons and it had no intention of taking military action in northern Iraq, a spokesman for the EU executive said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said only Turkey could decide whether to send troops into Iraq “for humanitarian reasons or to prevent giving a chance to terrorism” — a reference to Kurdish separatists operating there.

“But in a time of war, so as not to allow misunderstandings, nothing could be more natural than to coordinate with an allied country,” he told TRT state television.

Diplomats said the dominant mood at the talks was one of mutual incomprehension.

Officials have said the deployment could amount to tens of thousands of troops.—Reuters