ANKARA, Dec 22 (AFP) - Turkey, the United States and Iraq will discuss enhanced security measures for Turkish nationals in Iraq at a three-way meeting in January, following the killing of five Turkish embassy guards in the war-torn country, officials said here on Wednesday.
"The meeting will be probably held in the first month of next year," Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan told reporters.
"A series of measures are being considered," he said, but declined to elaborate.
Five Turkish officers and two Iraqi drivers were killed Friday when a four-car convoy carrying a group of policemen assigned to guard the Turkish embassy in Iraq was ambushed near the northern city of Mosul on its way to Baghdad.
Two officers who survived the attack reached the Iraqi capital, while a third returned to the Habur border post between the two neighboring countries.
US soldiers, based in a nearby military base, came to the help of the Turkish convoy and killed two of the assailants, a Turkish diplomat who requested anonymity said.
"The officer who survived the attack and returned to Turkey said in his testimony that the US forces reacted very quickly," the diplomat said.
"The initial impression is that the attack was perpetrated by the group of (Abu Musab) al-Zarqawi, but no definite conclusion has been reached yet," he said.
The killings triggered harsh reactions from Turkey, which has already lost about 80 nationals in Iraq, mostly truck drivers, killed in road attacks or at the hands of hostage-takers.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pressed for a thorough investigation into the incident in a telephone conversation with US President George W. Bush on Tuesday.
12/22/2004 11:07 GMT - AFP