United States Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has arrived in Turkey to drum up support for possible military action against Iraq.

The meeting will be the first between a US official and Turkey's new government, which has strong Islamic roots.

Wolfowitz said the ball is in Saddam Hussein's court

His trip coincides with a visit by UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for talks on Turkish membership of the European Union.

Talking to the BBC earlier, Mr Wolfowitz said that war with Iraq was not inevitable.

Mr Wolfowitz - a leading hawk in the US administration - said America was determined to disarm Iraq, "peacefully if possible, by force if necessary".

But he warned that if Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein does not fully comply with the latest UN resolution to rid Iraq of banned weapons "it will mean the end of his regime".

'Collective problem'

The deputy defence secretary told the BBC America will consult its allies over the next step if Iraq fails to satisfactorily meet an 8 December UN deadline to submit a declaration on its banned weapons programme.

If it turns out on 8 December [Saddam Hussein] is lying, then... we have to come up with a collective response

Paul Wolfowitz, US Deputy Defence Secretary

"If it turns out on 8 December [Saddam Hussein] is lying, then we have a collective problem - we have to come up with a collective response," he said.

Correspondents say that so far, the Pentagon has, in effect, been proceeding with two alternative plans for military action - one with, and one without, significant Turkish support.

The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Istanbul says the recently-elected government is as sceptical about the merits of a war as its predecessor, and is seeking assurances of US financial help for any hardship Turkey might suffer.

It also wants a pledge that no independent Kurdish state would be established in northern Iraq.

EU bid

Mr Wolfowitz has also been urging Washington's European allies to admit Turkey to the EU.

Many Turks are loathe to support an attack on Iraq

He said in London that to exclude Turkey was unthinkable, and Europe had an opportunity to help a country which would stand as a model to the Islamic world.

Turkey - which is a member of Nato - has long been bidding to become an EU member.

Mr Wolfowitz said Turkey's success could demonstrate to the world's one billion Muslims that there was a far better path than that of destruction and despair.

"The next two weeks could be decisive," Mr Wolfowitz told the BBC.

"If it works out well, we could have a resolution of the long festering Cyprus problem and we could have Turkey believing that... eventually it will be allowed into the European Union."