Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul flew to Damascus Saturday at the start of a tour of Middle East countries to seek ways to head off a U.S.-led war in neighboring Iraq that he likened to "Pandora's box." .As a close ally of the United States, NATO member Turkey is expected to offer airspace and logistical support for the United States against Iraq. But Ankara has been dragging its feet over making a firm commitment to provide military support, hoping to avoid war and the political and economic turmoil it may bring.

"Iraq is like Pandora's box. We don't want Pandora's box to be opened here," Gul said in an interview with Aksam newspaper.

"This box should not be opened. Iraq should not be scattered because it would not be possible to put everyone back in again."

Gul said the chief responsibility for avoiding a war lay with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein .

"Undoubtedly, a great role has to be undertaken by Iraq for a solution without war," Gul told reporters before departing for Syria. "It has to demonstrate to the whole world that it complies with U.N. Security Council decisions without hesitation and transparently."

Turkey's new Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has been at pains to allay suspicions about its Islamist roots and has pledged commitment to its Western allies.

At the same time the AKP's grassroots support and the majority of Muslim Turkey's population are deeply opposed to war in neighboring Iraq that Ankara fears could damage its economy and possibly lead to the break up of Iraq.

Gul was due to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other officials in Damascus Saturday. He will then travel to Egypt Sunday to meet President Hosni Mubarak and the Arab League's Secretary General Amr Moussa.

Monday Gul is due to meet King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman before returning to Ankara. It was not immediately clear when a planned visit to Saudi Arabia would take place.

POOLING EFFORTS

On the first Middle East tour by a senior member of the new Turkish government, Gul said he would try to coordinate efforts to avoid a war in Iraq. "It would definitely have a great influence if all our efforts were working together," he said.

Turkish authorities say they cannot make a decision on participating in any war against Baghdad until the end of January when U.N. arms inspectors, seeking evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, report to the Security Council.

"All diplomatic means have to be exhausted, everything should be tried. We are at that phase at the moment," Gul said.

Turkey fears a conflict in Iraq could spread unrest among its own Kurdish population in the southeast if Iraqi Kurds take advantage of the turmoil to seek their own independence.

Officials say Turkey will be keenly watching what happens in the oil-rich cities of Kirkuk and Mosul which Ankara fears may come under the sway of the Iraqi Kurds. Turkey sees itself as the guarantor of a small Turkmen minority in the region and has said it will act to protect them if necessary.

"If there is a law and order problem and no one to establish it then it is possible for Turkey to take measures to preserve the rights of our Turkmen ethnic brothers," Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said Friday.

Any Turkish intervention would be viewed with concern by Iraq's other neighbors Iran and Syria, which also have Kurds living in their territory. Iraqi Kurds, who have enjoyed broad autonomy from Baghdad since the 1991 Gulf War , would also be deeply suspicious.

Turkey's relations with Syria have been rocky in the past but have improved since 1998 when Damascus expelled Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who had been using Syria as a base for operations against Turkey.

"Recently Turkish-Syrian relations have come to very good levels," Gul said. "We have to forget the past and look entirely ahead to the future".

PHOTO CAPTION

Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul (C) and Turkish Armed Forces high military council members are led by a guard of honor officer after a wreath-laying ceremony at the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk in Ankara, December 26, 2002. Prime Minister Gul chaired the high military council meeting attended by Turkey's top brass in Ankara on Thursday. NATO member Turkey, which has resisted a war fearing economic and regional turmoil, is expected to provide air bases and logistic support if the United States goes to war against Iraq over its alleged weapons of mass destruction. REUTERS/String