Turkey is attempting to repair ties with Washington after the abstention of nineteen parliamentarians in a vote on approval for the presence of the US military on Turkish soil for possible use in a war on Iraq.
The result, though narrowly in favour of the motion, fell short of the required majority.
Members of Parliament voted 264-250 in favour of the deployment, but the motion fell four votes short of the required majority of deputies present in the chamber.
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, speaking today before an emergency meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), said friendship with Washington would survive parliament's rejection of a plan to admit 62,000 U.S. troops.
Yesterday's vote shook the party leadership and dealt a blow to US military plans for a "northern front" against Iraq, with war possibly only a few weeks away.
Barring a repeat vote and approval, military planners will have to abandon an incursion into Iraq from neighbouring Turkey that experts say could have shortened any war over Baghdad's alleged weapons of mass destruction and limited US losses.
Turkey stands to lose out on a multi-billion- dollar U.S. aid package to shore up its frail economy, which is recovering from its deepest recession since 1945. A $16 billion (10 million pound) IMF loan package could also now be seriously in question.
Overnight, dozens of anti-war demonstrators gathered in central Ankara to celebrate the parliamentary vote. A jubilant crowd chanted "No to War", waved flags. Some embraced each other smiling.
Sources close to the AKP said the decision had come as a big shock to its leaders. "The issue of resubmitting the motion may be raised, but it would be difficult," one source said.
Several influences may have borne on the result. Deputies were disturbed by anti-war demonstrations on the streets of Ankara and by messages from their constituents. They may also have been irritated by rancour creeping into discussion, public and private, of terms for deployment offered by Washington.
Sharp divisions in Europe over the wisdom of military action raised doubts in party ranks. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer had also questioned the constitutionality of the resolution - no small matter for a party already viewed by the powerful military with deep suspicion for its Islamist roots.
In Washington, U.S. officials said they still held out hope that Turkey would come around. Defence officials said they could quickly adjust war plans.
If Turkey does not budge, it may also have less of a say in the future of northern Iraq, where it fears the emergence of a Kurdish state that could rekindle armed Kurdish separatism in its own territory.
The three-month-old AKP government, which denies any Islamist inclinations and espouses pro-Western policies, had already dragged its feet for weeks in talks with Washington.
The upset will deal a serious blow to the authority of the government and its leader Tayyip Erdogan who led the party to a sweeping victory in elections only four months ago.